• Title/Summary/Keyword: A Tale for The Time Being

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The 21-century Techo-Scientific Predicaments and Its Call for Post-anthropocentric Worldviews: Luth Ozeki's A Tale for The Time Being (21세기 기술과학적 곤경과 탈인간중심주의적 세계관의 요청: 루스 오제키의 『시간존재를 위한 이야기』)

  • Lee, Kyung-Ran
    • English & American cultural studies
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.129-162
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    • 2017
  • Ruth Ozeki(Japanese-American female novelist)?s recent novel, A Tale for the Time Being (2013) draws our attention because the fiction shows very interesting fictional experiments, especially in terms of post-humanism. Indeed, the novel is not a science fiction at all which has been, and still is, the typical fictional field employed in the discussion for the transhumanism and posthumanism. It also does not include any cybogs, robots, or aliens which provoke the posthumanism-related issues like mind/body, human/nonhuman, nature/culture relations. Indeed, it seems "merely" represent realistic day-to-day lives of ordinary people living in contemporary Japan and Canada, and in very minute and particular details at that. Indeed, the central action of the main characters of the novel seems very traditional, that is on the one hand writing a diary by a teenage girl who is counting the days and weeks before her suicide and on the other hand reading it by a female novelist who happens to find her diary several years later. Nevertheless, I would like to suggest that underneath this traditional narrative surface are simmering post-humanist and post-anthropocentric worldviews beyond liberal Humanism which takes human beings to be exceptional against human or non-human others. Not only in narrative contents and characterizations but also through narrative structure and strategies, the novel enacts post-humanist and post-anthropocentric worldviews which are interestingly drawn from both age-old Buddhist ideas and modern eco-philosophy and quantum physics. I would like to stress that what triggers the author's fictional experiments helping our rethinking and redefining "what human beings are" and "what the relation between humans and nonhumans" is not merely intellectual interests but her keen and passionate response to the heart-breaking pains and sufferings of human and nonhuman beings caused by the contemporary natural-artificial catastrophes and techno-scientific predicaments.

Narrator as Collective 'We': The Narrative Structure of "A Rose for Emily"

  • Kim, Ji-Won
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.141-156
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    • 2011
  • This study purposes to explore the narrative of fictional events complicated by a specific narrator, taking notice of his/her role as an internal focalizer as well as an external participant. In William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the story of an eccentric spinster, Emily Grierson, is focalized and narrated by a townsperson, apparently an individual, but one who always speaks as 'we.' This tale-teller, as a first-hand witness of the events in the story, details the strange circumstances of Emily's life and her odd relationships with her father, her lover, the community, and even the horrible secret hidden to the climactic moment at the end. The narrative 'we' has surely watched Emily for many years with a considerable interest but also with a respectful distance. Being left unidentified on purpose, this narrative agent, in spite of his/her vagueness, definitely knows more than others do and acts undoubtedly as a pivotal role in this tale of grotesque love. Seamlessly juxtaposing the present and the past, the collective 'we' suggests an important subject that the distinction between the past and the present is blurred out for Emily, for whom the indiscernibleness of time flow proves to be her hamartia. The focalizer-narrator describes Miss Emily in the same manner as he/she describes the South whose old ways have passed on by time. Like the Old South, Emily is desperately trapped in the past, since she has not been able to adjust to the changes brought on by time. In the end, the tragic story of Emily Grierson which takes place in Jefferson plainly seems to serve as an introduction to mature Faulkner.

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Acceptance Patterns and Meaning of Tales Appearing on Dance as a Performing Arts Contents for the Journal of Korean Contents (공연예술 콘텐츠로서 무용에 나타나는 설화의 수용양상과 의미)

  • Jung, Eun-Young;Choi, Hyun-Ju
    • The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.123-138
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study is to identify how tales are accepted and embodied as a new work in dance as performing arts, which are getting attention for its rapid growth in the area of cultural industries. Major performances of recently created and performed ancient tales including Baridaegi, Chun-Hyang story, Yeonohrangseohnye are analyzed here. With acceptance of tales into dance, vitality of creation by the eternal word of mouth, rich information contained in each tale and the variety of interpretation showed the possibility of a new interpretation based on the existing perspectives. There are three kinds of acceptances: diversification of narrative techniques of the subject, adoption of the issue of moral values as a topic, and acceptance of tradition and national consciousness. To satisfy the fundamental concern about the universe and human, and to create both worldwide and Korean dance contents, the images of tales are being reinterpreted into a new dimension beyond the boundary of time.

A Study on the aspect of landscape change for Gwanghalluwon Garden (광한루원의 경관변화양상에 관한 고찰)

  • Lee, Won-Ho;Kim, Dong-Hyun;Kim, Jae-Ung;Ahn, Hye-In;Kim, Dae-Yeol;Cho, Un-Yeon
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.82-94
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    • 2014
  • This study aims to comprehend that Gwanghalluwon for aspects of landscape change in terms of construction garden(樓園). Transformation focused on the spatial structure is divided into four periods based on literature. And reflect of landscape elements in defunct or unattributable records from tale and novel. The results were as follows. First, The beginning of Gwanghanllu pavilion(廣寒樓) was the composition of the Gwangtongnu Pavilion(廣通樓). The pavilion is located amid beautiful scenery such as the close-range view of a small stream, and distant view Jiri Mountain. Analysis of literature shows that Gwanghallu pavilion was in succession to Gwangtongnu Pavilion's landscape. Secondly, Gwanghallu(廣寒樓) pavilion represents the characteristic of the garden since 1582. Built the Samsinsan(三神山), Construct Lake and bridge that represents the galaxy for realization of utopia reflect in Taoist ideology. Thirdly, Gwanghalluwon garden was recovered when from Jeong-yu-jae-ran(丁酉再亂) to the Japanese Ruling Era. It took Gwanghalluwon garden a long while to recover from original form. According to records, Gwanghalluwon garden is still being likened to the landscape of fairyland by inheriting landscape in the previous of Jeong-yu-jae-ran(丁酉再亂). Fourth, By the modern times, Gwanghalluwon Garden has personality of tourist attractions. Until now, the area of the Gwanghalluwon garden has been expended during the processes of three times. Fifth, Aspect of landscape change of Gwanghalluwon is wide-spreading mainly Gwanghallu pavilion. But elements of external expansion in garden by introduced into the facility irrelevant to the authenticity of the garden. Sixth, Comprehension the cultural landscape of the garden are limited by deficient records. But, the main elements in the Gwanghalluwon garden are commonly appeared on imaginary environment within a tale and a novel. In addition, culture of garden at the time was depicted in tale and novel. In this sense, cultural landscape in garden was able to estimate through imaginary environment within novel.

The Abuse and Invention of Tradition from Maintenance Process of Historic Site No.135 Buyeo Gungnamji Pond (사적 제135호 부여 궁남지의 정비과정으로 살펴본 전통의 남용과 발명)

  • Jung, Woo-Jin
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.26-44
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    • 2017
  • Regarded as Korea's traditional pond, Gungnamj Pond was surmised to be "Gungnamji" due to its geological positioning in the south of Hwajisan (花枝山) and relics of the Gwanbuk-ri (官北里) suspected of being components to the historical records of Muwang (武王)'s pond of The Chronicles of the Three States [三國史記] and Sabi Palace, respectively, yet was subjected to a restoration following a designation to national historic site. This study is focused on the distortion of authenticity identified in the course of the "Gungnamji Pond" restoration and the invention of tradition, whose summarized conclusions are as follows. 1. Once called Maraebangjuk (마래방죽), or Macheonji (馬川池) Pond, Gungnamji Pond was existent in the form of a low-level swamp of vast area encompassing 30,000 pyeong during the Japanese colonial period. Hong, Sa-jun, who played a leading role in the restoration of "Gungnamji Pond," said that even during the 1940s, the remains of the island and stone facilities suspected of being the relics of Gungnamji Pond of the Baekje period were found, and that the traces of forming a royal palace and garden were discovered on top of them. Hong, Sa-jun also expressed an opinion of establishing a parallel between "Gungnamji Pond" and "Maraebangjuk" in connection with a 'tale of Seodong [薯童說話]' in the aftermath of the detached palace of Hwajisan, which ultimately operated as a theoretical ground for the restoration of Gungnamj Pond. Assessing through Hong, Sa-jun's sketch, the form and scale of Maraebangjuk were visible, of which the form was in close proximity to that photographed during the Japanese colonial period. 2. The minimized restoration of Gungnamji Pond faced deterrence for the land redevelopment project implemented in the 1960s, and the remainder of the land size is an attestment. The fundamental problem manifest in the restoration of Gungnamji Pond numerously attempted from 1964 through 1967 was the failure of basing the restorative work in the archaeological facts yet in the perspective of the latest generations, ultimately yielding a replication of Hyangwonji Pond of Gyeongbok Palace. More specifically, the methodologies employed in setting an island and a pavilion within a pond, or bridging an island with a land evidenced as to how Gungnamji Pond was modeled after Hyangwonji Pond of Gyeongbok Palace. Furthermore, Chihyanggyo (醉香橋) Bridge referenced in the designing of the bridge was hardly conceived as a form indigenous to the Joseon Dynasty, whose motivation and idea of the misguided restoration design at the time all the more devaluated Gungnamji Pond. Such an utterly pure replication of the design widely known as an ingredient for the traditional landscape was purposive towards the aesthetic symbolism and preference retained by Gyeongbok Palace, which was intended to entitle Gungnamji Pond to a physical status of the value in par with that of Gyeongbok Palace. 3. For its detachment to the authenticity as a historical site since its origin, Gungnamji Pond represented distortions of the landscape beauty and tradition even through the restorative process. The restorative process for such a historical monument, devoid of constructive use and certain of distortion, maintains extreme intimacy with the nationalistic cultural policy promoted by the Park, Jeong-hee regime through the 1960s and 1970s. In the context of the "manipulated discussions of tradition," the Park's cultural policy transformed the citizens' recollection into an idealized form of the past, further magnifying it at best. Consequently, many of the historical sites emerged as fancy and grand as they possibly could beyond their status quo across the nation, and "Gungnamji Pond" was a victim to this monopolistic government-led cultural policy incrementally sweeping away with new buildings and structures instituted regardless of their original space, and hence, their value.

An Interpretation of the Folktale 'the Servant Who Ruined the Master's House' from the Perspective of Analytical Psychology: Centering on the Trickster Archetype (민담 '주인집을 망하게 한 하인'의 분석심리학적 이해: 트릭스터 원형을 중심으로)

  • Myoungsun Roh
    • Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.184-254
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    • 2022
  • Through this thesis, the psychological meaning of the Korean folktale 'the servant who ruined the master's house' was examined. The opposition between the master and the servant is a universal matter of the human psychology. It can be seen as a conflict between the hardened existing collective consciousness and the new consciousness to compensate for and renew it. From different angles, it has become the opposition between man's spiritual and instinctive aspects, between the conscious and the unconscious, or between the ego and the shadow. In the folktale, the master tries several times to get rid of the youngest servant, but the servant uses tricks and wits to steal food, a horse, the youngest sister, and all money from the master, and finally, take his life. It ends with the marriage of the youngest sister and the servant. Enantiodromia, in which the master dies, and the servant becomes the new master, can be seen that the old collective consciousness is destroyed, and the new consciousness that has risen from the collective unconscious takes the dominant position. In an individual's psychological situation, it can be seen that the existing attitude of the ego is dissolved and transformed into a new attitude. In the middle of the story, the servant marries the youngest sister by exploiting naive people to rewrite the back letter written by the master to kill him. This aspect can be understood negatively in the moral concept of collective consciousness, but it can also be seen as a process of integrating mental elements that have been ignored in the collective consciousness of the Joseon Dynasty, symbolized by a woman, a honey seller, and a hungry Buddhist monk. The new consciousness, represented by the servant, has the characteristics of a trickster that is not bound by the existing frame, so it can encompass the psychological elements that have been ignored in the collective consciousness. Such element may represent compensation or an alternative to the collective consciousness in the late Joseon Dynasty. The master puts the servant in a leather bag and hangs it on a tree to kill the servant. However, the servant deceives a blind man; he opened his eyes while hanged. Instead of the servant, the blind man dies, and the servant is freed. As the problem of the conflict between master and servant is finally entrusted to the whole spirit (Self) symbolized by a tree, the blind man gets removed. It can be understood as an intention of the Self to distinguish and purify the elements of recklessness, stupidity, and greed included in the trickster. Through these processes, the servant, which symbolizes a new change in collective consciousness or a new attitude of ego, solves the existing problems and takes the place of the master. While listening to the cunning servant's performance, the audience feels a sense of joy and liberation. At the same time, in the part where the blind man and the master's family die instead and the servant becomes the master, they experience feelings of fear and concern about the danger and uncontrollability of the servant. The tricksters appearing in foreign analogies are also thoroughly selfish and make innocent beings deceive or die in order to satisfy their desires and escape from danger. Efforts to punish or reform these tricksters are futile and they run away. Therefore, this folktale can also be seen as having a purpose and meaning to let us know that this archetypal shadow is very dangerous and that consciousness cannot control or assimilate it, but only awe and contemplate it. Trickster is an irrational manifestation of revivifying natural energy that rises from the unconscious as a compensation for hardened existing structure and order. The phenomenon may be destructive and immoral from the standpoint of the existing collective mind, but it should be seen as a function of the collective unconscious, a more fundamental psychic function that cannot be morally defined. The servant, a figure of the trickster archetype, is a being that brings transformation and has the duality and contradiction of destructiveness and creativity. The endings of this folktale's analogies are diverse, reflecting the diversified response of the audience's mind due to the ambivalence of the trickster, and also suggesting various responses toward the problem of the trickster from the unconscious. It also shows that the trickster is a problem of inconclusive and controversial contradictions that cannot be controlled with a conscious rational attitude, and that we can only seriously contemplate the trickster archetype within us.