• Journal of Korean Classical Literature and Education
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• no.33
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• pp.5-44
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• 2016

This study focuses on Ko woo-young (1939-2005), a Korean representative cartoonist. I analyzed his work Nolbudyeon (1988), which is a retelling of Heungbu and Nolbu, a traditional Korean story. I consider Ko woo-young a creative observer who has popularized his perspective in modern society. His work is a good example of how a traditional folktale can be made relevant in modern society. I used three methods of adaptation to differentiate Nolbudyeon from Heungbu story: construction of events, characterizing, and space-time background. First, to aid character development, Nolbudyeon includes a prologue that focuses on conflicts between brothers with different personalities. At the same time, the ambiguous ending could be a response to Heungbu story, which has a didactic theme. Second, I found that the new characters, Nolsun and Yeonsaengwon, enhanced the differences between Heungbu and Nolbu by playing the role of mediators. Also, in Nolbudyeon, both Heungbu and Nolbu had positive as well as negative elements, in contrast with the original story's traditional point of view on good and evil. Finally, by exploring the space-time of Nolbudyeon, we can see that its world is combined with the contemporary world. In other words, Nolbu and Heungbu, though outwardly traditional, have a modern outlook. Therefore, readers can recognize that Nolbudyeon is a metaphor for modern life rather than just an old story.