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A Study on the Cultural Identity of Mongolian Heroic Epic in the Trans-boundary Era: Focusing on the Traditions and Modern Uses of the Stories of Jangar and Geser Khan

  • Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • 2019, 76(4), pp.121-161
  • DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.76.4.201911.121
  • Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : October 17, 2019
  • Accepted : November 7, 2019
  • Published : November 30, 2019

Lee Suna 1

1단국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The Jangar, Geser Khan epics are representative stories of the Mongolian nomad, transformed into a wide variety of genres from a wide range of regions in Northeast Asia and Central Asia, communicating closely with the populace of each region and each era. The Mongolian heroic epic has constantly evolved, accepting the most innovative media and genres of that era, from the story deifying, and the story performing, and to the story gaming etc. The regional and genre openness of the Mongolian epic is closely related to the long-standing characteristics of nomadic culture that cross borders and boundaries. In nomadic society where ethnic separating and gathering were frequent, Mongolian nomads constantly adapted to the new environment, overcoming the loss and confusion of their identity. In this process, these heroic epics become ‘historical myths’ that remind the mythological identity as ‘a shared memory of the community’ through the stories of the most ideal heroes aspired by the people of those days. In this context, the epic Jangar, which represented (mimesis) the tragic destiny of the Oirad people and the construction of the ideal nation (Ar Bumba) through their struggle and solidarity, represent the cultural identity of the Mongol heroic epic. The Mongolian heroic epic is narrative literature that has been actively handed down to a wide variety of nomadic culture genres in the vast region of Northeast Asia. In other words, the various regional versions of Mongolian heroic epic represent the diversity of the ethnic cultures and their cultural identities of the Mongolian nomadic people scattered in various places that flexibly adapted and were created at each crucial time. This aspect seems to have influenced the reorganization of cultural identity through the ‘shared memory of the community’ in which the other neighboring countries are represented by the myth of the hero through cultural exchange. The story of the hero named ‘Jangar’, ‘Geser’ and ‘Dagina’ (Qatun) was beyond the scope of construction, constantly communicating with the populace, and not hesitating to change itself according to the modern sense. From the deity of the story to the game, various variants have been created, and the Mongol nomads have been steadily loved until now. This is a good example of the nomadic openness and flexibility of the Mongolian heroic epic. The Mongolian epic embodies mythical storytelling genuinely while maintaining the main public media of the time such as musical instruments, medium of texts, stage (performing media), and images, and accumulating heritage of the literary genre with infinite fantasy and spectacle. Today, it is a major asset of cultural prototype contents and it is a major driving force for continuously creating new types of storytelling contents by connecting with modern media (multimedia) such as Internet, digital, VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality). The trans-boundary of Mongolian heroic epic, transcending regions and genres, will be an important alternative to form a new cultural identity of the 21st century neo-nomadism world culture beyond the national category for our future generations.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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