민요에 나타난 ‘존엄성’에 대한 인식체계

Abstract

Respecting someone requires treating them with “dignity.” In other words, you should avoid treating them in a way that demeans, insults, or expresses contempt. This study investigated how people recognize and respond to dignity through folk songs: people enjoy folk songs based on the idea that dignity is lost when human rights are violated. Also, when communication with family members failed, they felt left out and did not receive favors; instead, when criticized and ridiculed, they felt a failure of dignity. Protecting dignity was so important to them that they showed how they would rather die through the poetic speakers of folk songs. They protested that their dignity was undermined by calling them folk songs and tried to resolve the issue by making it public.
 Next, we investigated their perceptions and attitudes toward the deceased. In folk songs, human dignity also applies to the dead, highlighting why the person died and why those were the cause must apologize. In particular, funeral songs include, “Who is the deceased?What kind of life did they live? Why did they die? What do they mean to those who remember them? What kind of words do we want to leave behind for them, and what do we want to say to them as they leave the world?”
 People who enjoyed folk songs also recognized the dignity of animals based on feelings of compassion. Meanwhile, the word “dignity” has always been associated with the word “human being,” and dignity has been recognized as “the essential value of human beings.” However, recently, dignity has been extended to non-human entities, expanding its meaning. Respect for others based on compassion attracts attention, as it is a value we need to live together in the future.
 Defending dignity is possible by realizing one’s rights and respecting the rights of others. It is emphasized that recognizing dignity based on mutual respect regardless of race, religion, gender, social status, region, or age, abandoning the instrumental perspective of non-human beings such as animals, plants, and artificial intelligence, and cooperating to respect them is needed.