<야래자설화>의 신화적 성격과 전승에 관한 연구 = A Study on Mythic Characteristics and Tradition of the Tale of Yaraeja

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper reconsiders the mythic characteristics of the tale of Yaraeja(夜來者說話), and explores he way that these characteristics are transferred tough oral tradition and literature. This tale is used not only In the tale about the birth of King Gyeon Hweon. The is the first king of Hoo Baek Jae(後百齋), but also in other diverse types such as the tales of the originators of a family, the tales of historic figures, the tales of the origin of place name, the tales with a focus on eradication of Yaraeja, and the tales of wealth acquisition.
This paper first compares the earliest literature of Korea and Japan and analyzes the domestic oral traditions with similar contents. It is found that Yaraeja is snake living In mountains. He only disappears when his identity is revealed, but can never be gotten rid of. Similarly, it is mostly the case in oral traditions that Yaraeja is found in mountains, inside caves, or on rocks.
This paper non argues that the Yaraeja tale is not quite different from the 'heavenly father-earthly mother' type myths because in both the originators are born from the holy marriage of their parents. for example, a heavenly father of the originators comes down to the earth to secretly get married to an earthly woman, and two types of parents' marriage are intermingled in one tale. In the Yaraeja tale, however, we do not see the typical element commonly found in 'heavenly father-earthly mother' type myths, the element being 'the woman gets kicked out of the family and the son goes out to look for his father'. The reason for this can be attributed to the changes both in diety and in thoughts of those who enjoy the tales, due to development of agricultural culture. Especially in the areas south of the Han River, water diety is more widely accepted than heavenly sacred diety, and the format of 'heavenly father-earthly mother' type is not well transferred as tradition.
Finally, with a focus on the changes in deity, this paper investigates where Yaraeja lives and how his identity changes in oral traditions. Yaraeja appears in Chinese literature as a grub, a tree, or a dead woman unlike in the traditional Yaraeja tales. We should note that the living place of the deity and his identity in Korean oral traditions are mostly 'mountain(land)-snake(earthworm)', but in some others the deity appears water-related like a snapping, a cup, and turtles. Especially, the wide use of the latter type in 'heavenly father-earthly mother' type myths is considered as an indication of the wide acceptance of the water deity by those who enjoy the tales.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. 서론
• 2. <야래자설화>의 신화적 성격과 그 실상
• 3. <야래자설화>의 신화적 위상
• 4. 신격의 변모를 통해 본 <야래자설화>의 전승
• 5. 결론