<홍계월전>의 구성원리와 미학적 기반 - 단국대 103장본 계열을 중심으로 -

Abstract

This research is an essay that reveals the composition principles and the esthetic foundation of Honggyewol Jeon(홍계월전). Honggyewol Jeon can be said to be a piece having a prophecy structure as its center since its narration is unfolded according to twice prophecies of Gwak guru. The author is suggesting fatalism through this prophecy structure; the fatalism here is not a feudal ideology based on Chyeonmyung(天命) Ideology (an ideology thinking that everything is from God’s will) but holds the meaning that it is a universal principle of life which should be naturally processed. Therefore, the fatalism reflected in Honggyewol Jeon should be seen as the mechanism reflecting the intention of the author who wants to embody the horizontal relationship between male and female as a should be reality. The outstanding characteristics of early female heroism novels are to create ‘the esthetics of imbalance between men and women’ through a clear contrast of a superior woman versus an inferior man. However, in Honggyewol Jeon and Kimheegyung Jeon(김희경전) created around the late 18th Century, the ‘esthetics of imbalance between men and women’ is shown to be transformed as the ‘esthetics of balance between men and women’. This points the fact that female heroism novels started to embody the ‘esthetics of imbalance between men and women’ at first, but after new works emerged which presented the ‘esthetics of balance between men and women’ in the late 18th Century, the two came to coexist and form separate systems. The above research result is expected to be an important guide in newly establishing the system of female heroism novels in the future.