한일 환상문학에 나타난 이류신랑의 신체와 그 의미　 －「개신랑 들이기」, 「나의 우렁총각 이야기」, 「이류혼인담」을 중심으로－

Abstract

This paper focuses on the analysis of the physical representations of “non-human husbands” in Yoko Tawada’s “The Bridegroom Was a Dog”(1992), Kyung-a Song’s “My Worm Guy Story”(2005), and Yukiko Motoya’s “Interspecies Marriage Story” (2015). Furthermore, it examines how these representations reflect contemporary views on marriage, gender consciousness, and images of masculinity in modern society. The dog- husband of “The Bridegroom Was a Dog” is set against the backdrop of new cities formed by the real estate development boom. His physical sensations, reminiscent of a large dog, reveal the hidden desires and fantasies of modern individuals for an ancient eroticism that has been forgotten. Thirteen years later, Kyung-a Song introduces the worm-guy in “My Worm Guy Story” who, after being rejected by a human woman, is confined in a tank and sold through a second-hand goods trading website. Unlike the dog-husband, the worm-guy is assigned the role of a caregiver for household chores rather than a sexual partner. The depiction of non-human husbands performing housework in modern fantasy literature highlights contemporary women’s expectations of men. However, the husband in Yukiko Motoya’s “Interspecies Marriage Story,”(2015) who quit his job to become a househusband, found himself unable to find his place either at work or at home, and ultimately turned into a flower and retreated to the mountains. The emergence of the 21st-century plant husband reflects the pressures of modern capitalism and the image of men in an era of low economic growth. In the fantasy novels written by these three female authors, all non-human husbands fail to unite with their female spouses, and over a span of about ten years, their bodies gradually become smaller and weaker. The changing physical representations of these non-human husbands illustrate the image of modern men living as another form of the marginalized in both the home and society.