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The Possibility of Cross-Generational Female Solidarity Focusing on the Korean Musical Hongryeon

  • 아시아여성연구
  • 2024, 63(3), pp.73-105
  • DOI : 10.14431/jaw.2024.12.63.3.73
  • Publisher : Research Institute of Asian Women
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Gender Studies
  • Received : October 14, 2024
  • Accepted : December 20, 2024
  • Published : December 30, 2024

Jang, Mingi 1

1경남대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study examines the Korean creative musical Hongryeon , inspired by the traditional Korean myth Baridegi and the classic novel The Story of Janghwa and Hongryeon . It analyzes how the female characters interact with the original works and evolve within the narrative. The musical portrays Bari, the deity of the underworld, judging Hongryeon, who the original tale depicts as a victim. In this adaptation, Hongryeon faces judgment for killing her father and dismembering her brother. This study applies Greimas’ actantial model and semiotic square to analyze these changes, structure the actions of the two female protagonists’ and examine their narrative transformations at the surface, deep, and discursive levels. The findings revealed that Hongryeon deconstructed the original narratives through Bari’s and Hongryeons actions, highlighting female agency and solidarity. The musical critiques traditional family ideologies and patriarchal structures and offers comfort and solidarity to the women these systems harm. However, this paradoxically perpetuates their victimization by suturing this critique into an illusory resolution. Nonetheless, Hongryeon holds significant value as a female narrative, because it re-exposes the oppressive realities of patriarchal systems and suggests the possibility of fostering resistance and solidarity among women in contemporary society.

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