두 가지의 민속학과 의식주 연구 －한복·한식·한옥에서 복식·음식·주거로－

Abstract

This study makes a claim about an issue that exists in the study of food, clothing and housing in Korean folklore research fields. Generally, folklore studies on food, clothing and housing have dealt within the scope of “material culture.” However, the beginning, folklore research, which started in the 19th Century, did not discuss much about the material cultures of food, clothing and housing. The early folklore was mainly focused on “the life stories of people.” Due to industrialization, material folk culture started to disappear. Therefore, the study of the material folk cultures of food, clothing and housing became an important field of research into folklore. The situation is quite similar in Korean folklore as well. Above all, the research on food, clothing, and housing was performed by some scientific scholars, because there were fewer folklorists before 1990s, and the research was mainly focused on the historic approach rather than the folkloristic approach. One of the reasons was that most of the scholars believed that it was useful to historically verify “the identity of ethnic culture.” One study of genuine ethnic groups and the history of people started from an early stage of ancient times and it has lasted until now. I would call it “modern folklore.” The modern folklore served politically by trying to make an ethnic group of people in a modern state who were educated by the nation state. Conventional research on food, clothing and housing in modern folklore mainly discusses “traditional” things rather than “practical” things in reference to the study of Korean traditional food, clothing and housing. Consequently, focus has been on the past. An ethnicity oriented approach was made by modern folklorists. After all, the 21st-century folkloristic research on food, clothing and housing, which was being conducted within the framework of the nation state, should now look to the fashion, food, and housing that were actually being consumed by Korean people. Thus, I coin the issue of “postmodern folklore” as a method of theorizing and study which can overcome the limitations of modern folklore. Furthermore, here are some other suggestions for research into modern folklore. First, understanding some of the phenomena of producing and consuming patterns in current fashion, food and housing is mandatory. It is necessary to adopt a new research method encompassing modernity and ecology of everyday life necessities as they could be applied to the study of modern folklore. Secondly, consuming food, clothing, and housing is a very important research topic which has formulated during modern times. Thirdly, take a look very carefully at “the house” as a scene of consuming food, fashion and housing. Finally, a very significant pursuit is underway, led by conventional folklorists on the research of food, clothing and housing, which is considered to be a special and an old “the knowledge of folk.” This method reveals many meanings which can be applied as cultural contents. We should focus on an integrated perspective on food, fashion and housing. We should abandon the perspective of the material itself. To make it possible to pursue the research on food, fashion, and housing, we need to gain a deep perspective into the local community members who actually exist and have personal knowledge of folk culture. This effort will shed light on the meaning of the knowledge of folk from a single system to a plural system, which modern folklorists have greatly sought after.