‘민속’의 근대, 탈근대의 민속학

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

'The modernity of folklore' in the title of this essay can be a subject of academic discourse, for the discipline of folklore studies as a system of knowledge is derived from a new formation of society that is usually called modernity, the symbol of which is nation-state. In this case, 'folklore' is not an autonomous concept at all. like 'primitive society', 'tradition', and 'the Orient', it is a concept constructed, politically and socially, through a particular perspective. For example, a primitive society doesn't exist as an autonomous being itself called 'primitive society'. It exists through the view of other society, that is, the Western, modern, and urban perspective, which defines certain society as 'primitive' or 'uncivilized'. Needless to say of the theory of 'the invention of tradition', tradition also doesn't exist until the modern age ; it is conceived, created, and selected through the perspective of modernity. It is a cliche that the so-called 'imagined geography' is constructed by Said's orientalism, too.
In a similar vein, 'folklore' is not an objective entity that really has existed in rural communities before the modern age. It is an edifice that exists in a particular perspective which is constructed by certain historical experiences called modernity. Therefore, the point is not a matter of distinguishing what is folklore and what is not. It is more important to study which, if anything, political and social relations and contexts create such folklorist perspective and knowledge. To put this into our own situation, it is necessary to inquire into the historical context and political and social meanings that are contained in a particular perspective and way of thinking of the Korean folklore studies. I believe that the direction and themes of the Korean folklore studies in the twenty-first century can be reconstructed only upon the basis of this de-construction for self-reflection.
Based upon this understanding, this essay has proposed to consider the following two subjects as ground works for the de-construction of Korean folklore studies : one the political nature of the 'Korean folklore studies', the other the general subjects of the Korean folklore studies that appeared in the early 1970s. By the former I mean, of course, the inquiry into and research activities of 'Korean Folklore' under the Japanese imperial rule, and by the latter the agenda that appeared over and over in the process of Kim Tae-gon's effort to set a new direction of the Korean folklore studies, from 'the study of the past' to 'the study of the present'. Keeping these two subjects in mind, I have tried to suggest a new concept of folklore studies in order to meet a new and post-modern situation of the twenty-first century.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Ⅰ. 근대의 민속과 ‘민속’의 근대
• Ⅱ. ‘조선민속학’과 소멸의 내러티브
• Ⅲ. ‘과거학’에서 ‘현재학’으로
• Ⅳ. 탈근대의 민속학을 위한 몇 가지 제언
• 참고문헌