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The Meaning of Objectification in the Transformation into the “Stone-Woman” in Korean Folktales -Focusing on The Legend of Jangja Pond and The Legend of Mangbuseok-

  • The Research of the Korean Classic
  • 2026, (73), pp.35~61
  • Publisher : The Research Of The Korean Classic
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > Korean classic prose
  • Received : April 23, 2026
  • Accepted : May 17, 2026
  • Published : May 31, 2026

Chung Kyungmin 1

1한국공학대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study reinterprets the motif of women transforming into stone, which repeatedly appears in Korean folktales, moving beyond conventional readings that treat it as a narrative ending and instead understanding it as a condition for narrative generation. Focusing on The Legend of Jangja Pond and The Legend of the Waiting Wife Stone (Mangbuseok), the study examines the meaning of objectification— women’s transformation into stone—through the theoretical framework of new materialism. Previous scholarship has largely interpreted such transformations as punishment for taboo violations, expressions of frustrated desire, or symbols of moral virtues such as chastity. In contrast, this paper argues that petrification should be understood not as the closure of a narrative, but as the starting point that repeatedly generates storytelling. To this end, the study introduces the concept of the “stone-woman” and interprets the transition from human to nonhuman matter not as a rupture, but as a transformation of modes of existence. While losing human agency, the “stone-woman” acquires durability as a material object fixed in a specific place and becomes an exhibited presence repeatedly exposed to human perception. This material persistence anchors the narrative in space and enables its continuous reproduction through oral transmission, thereby constituting what can be termed narrative agency. Furthermore, the “stone-woman” evokes diverse affects, allowing for multiple, layered interpretations rather than a single fixed meaning. This paper conceptualizes such effects as “normative power,” defined not as explicit moral instruction or prescriptive command, but as a non-coercive and fluid influence formed through the repeated perception of the object. In conclusion, this study reconceptualizes folktales not as human-centered systems of meaning transmission, but as relational processes in which material objects, place, and affect interact to generate narrative

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