무등산권 남성 무속인의 생애 이야기

Abstract

This paper aims at analysing the life histories of male shamans providing mueup(job of shaman) activities in the region of Mudeung Mt. On the one hand, Male shamans are the religious specialists who should serve god of goddess in the sacred realm. Through mubyung and immu(the experience of being possessed of gods), they became shamans as healers and consultants. On the other hand, they carry on ordinary lives as sons, husbands, and fathers in their families. They make efforts to earn money for their family members, specially their children. In contrast with female shamans who generally consider their mueup as rewards on the basis of achievement of economic independence, male shamans are likely to attribute their marginalized and stigmatized social status to jobs of shamans. They can not have the authority or reputation in the Korean society in which job of shamans is still largely ignored and alienated from main stream of society. To be specific, the anticipated role of ordinary fathers who have proper jobs and reputations in Korean society severely distresses male shamans trying to hide their jobs from children.