「두포전」 연구

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate how Du po Jeon adopts a transformation strategy based on a legend and fairy tale from Chun-cheon, South Korea, and what this work reveals in terms of historical meaning. Du po Jeon was Yu-Jeong Kim’s final work, completed by Hyun-Deok and published serially in the magazine So nyeon in five instalments and 10 episodes in 1939. Du po Jeon has been categorized as a novel; however, in this paper, it is considered a work of children’s literature. Du po Jeon was transformed into a fairy tale with the motif of “A gi-Jang su legend” and “Jang su legend” from Chun-Cheon. Through this transformation into a written fairy tale, a fictional character is recreated into a realistic character. Those with intent to murder in folk tale are altered into characters who deserve to be punished from the viewpoint of children’s literature. In addition, while ego is lost in folk tale, fairy tale constructs the plot to reveal the victory of the self. The surreal elements of the folk tale, however, are retained in the fairy tale. The historical significance of Du po Jeon is to reflect on the desire to overcome the reality of Japanese colonial rule at the time. The setting of the story, that a hardship in a village is overcome by the character’s blood, can be interpreted as the feudal dislocation of society. Yet, considering this painful era of exploitation and censorship, the historical meaning found in Du po Jeon can be interpreted as having a vision of futurity in literature, which was not expressed by a novel.