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A Study on “Transporting Stones with Skirts” in Oral Folktale

  • The Research of the Korean Classic
  • 2024, (66), pp.255-290
  • Publisher : The Research Of The Korean Classic
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > Korean classic prose
  • Received : July 21, 2024
  • Accepted : August 8, 2024
  • Published : August 31, 2024

JUNHEE KIM 1

1서울대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the role of skirts in oral folktale as a means of transporting stones, a material used to create topographical features. It has traditionally been assumed that skirts are exclusively associated with woman's clothing, and that characters depicted wearing skirts are, by extension, female. However, this paper challenges that assumption by arguing that the meaning of skirts is not monolithic. The objective of this study was to address the gaps in the detailed analysis of the narratives designated as “skirt rocks.” It was observed that the narrative of transporting stones with skirts has been predominantly studied within the context of giant mythology and creation mythology in relation to goddesses such as Magohalmi. However, there has been a paucity of attention directed towards the tools of creation. The narratives of stone-carrying with skirts convey a representation of a strong female character who utilizes her skirt to carry stones. In the case of the woman's use of the skirt, its purpose would have been to lift and move stones that would otherwise remain stationary on the ground. Therefore, the skirt can be considered a tool as medium that enables the exertion of the woman's physical force in opposition to the natural force of gravity, which tends to pull the stones down towards the ground. In addition, the skirt may be regarded as a tool that can be used interchangeably with other items, such as a basket. The utilization of the skirt does not inherently indicate the gender of the individual employing it, nor does it necessitate the use of the skirt rather than other tools. However, there are instances where the skirt is worn or unfurls, resulting in the unintended consequence of stones falling. Such narratives may reveal shortcomings or constraints of the woman, but if they illustrate the inadvertent establishment of natural gravity, interest in topographical features and woman's physical strength remain evident. In such case, a woman's skirt could be exchanged for other transportation tools. Nevertheless, as it is seen in Onuihimnagi(the trial between brother and sister) tale when artificial gravitational forces such as patriarchy compel a woman to relinquish the act of carrying, the constraints she encounters are problematic. This indicates that the skirt is no longer interchangeable with tools such as baskets, thereby underscoring the meaning of the skirt as a gendered clothing. Despite retaining the capacity to overcome natural gravity, the strength of the strong woman is no longer approved when the skirts are let down by the intervention of the ruling order. On the other hand, in the “dishcloth skirt” tales, in which common women carried stones with their skirts to defend against foreign enemies, the skirt retains some of the meaning of a skirt that can be exchanged for other tools, but the power exerted through the skirt takes on the character of collective power as a result of the gathering of ordinary women.

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