<사씨남정기> 교채란 서사의 반복호출과 서사적 기능 = The Repetitive Recall and Narrative Function of Gyo Chaeran’s Story in Sassi Namjeonggi

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article examines the narrative function of repetitive invocation in Sassi Namjeonggi, focusing on the character of Gyo Chaeran. While previous studies have largely interpreted Gyo Chaeran as a villain defined by moral transgression, psychological deviation, or ethical failure, this study approaches her repeated appearances as a structural operation within the narrative rather than as an expression of individual character traits.
Although the narrative declares the restoration of family order through the return of the legitimate wife and the birth of a legitimate heir, Gyo Chaeran is not immediately removed from the story. Instead, she continues to be repeatedly invoked across multiple episodes. This repetition indicates that the restoration of legitimacy is not narratively complete and that the text remains preoccupied with managing the instability that persists after the formal declaration of order.
This study conceptualizes such repetition as a process of suturing. Unlike narrative closure, suturing does not resolve conflict but temporarily stabilizes the narrative by displacing residual instability onto a specific figure. The accumulation of blame, moral judgment, and wrongdoing attributed to Gyo Chaeran functions as a narrative strategy through which the restored order is maintained as seemingly coherent and legitimate.
From this perspective, Gyo Chaeran’s ultimate elimination does not signify the successful completion of restoration. Rather, it marks the point at which suturing can no longer be sustained. Her removal serves as a final measure to compress unresolved tension and expel it from the narrative space.
Ultimately, the restoration of legitimacy in Sassi Namjeonggi emerges not as a completed outcome but as an unstable process sustained through repetitive invocation and narrative suturing. Gyo Chaeran’s narrative reveals the limits of closure in classical Korean fiction and highlights the structural cost required to maintain, rather than fully resolve, restored social order.