Traditional Space and Postmodern Space -The Case Study of Three Korean Communities -

전통적 공간과 포스트모던 공간 -고향의 의미를 중심으로-

This paper intends to explore some aspects of space as metaphor for the being of a subject and a subjected state of being. This paper deals with 3 Korean communities. Examples include (1) Yeog-maeul in Honam province (2) Samni village in Youngnam province (3) Bem Island in Seoul. Yeog-maeul is the village of Sannmin's (commoners), which is socially isolated from it's surrounding Yangban's villages. The social life in Yeog-maeul is generally divided two areas : that of men and women. The former is expressed as a life Dorang-Pak(outside of the stream) and the latter as Dorang-Ahn(inside of the stream). The former is a life of formality, sacredness. The latter is a life of informality, profaneness. Samni is a typical Yangban's village. With the support of literature such as Kohyun-Hyang-Yak(古縣鄕約). Yangban has exercised the social control which is widely practiced in various fields ranging from the fetal movement to the location of tombs. Bam Island is located Han river. It's resident had lived on the Island for over 700 Years, until they were forced to move collectively out of the Island, and settle in Chang-chun dong of Seoul. Yet, these people have kept holding Bugundang Kut, ritual for the entire village. The former Bam Islanders whose traditional culture is suppressed by the surrounding postmodern culture, have tried to fill the gap between their ideal and actual lives by symbolically realizing the former in the community ritual. In ritual life, the former Bam Islanders are deemed to sacred, while the rest of citizens of Seoul profane. The residents of Yeog-maeul and Samni village which live a life an their traditional space, has been subjects. But, the former Bam Islanders which moved collectively out of traditional space and settle in the postmodern space experience the subjected state of being.