절망의 개념을 통해 본 <장자못 전설> 속 ‘돌이 된 며느리’의 존재적 의미

Abstract

This study viewed the notion of “daughter-in-law turning into stone” as the process of becoming oneself. Accordingly, it was newly understood through the concept of “despair” in Kierkegaard’s “Sickness unto Death.” In “The Legend of Jangja Pond,” the daughter-in-law's encounter with God opens up the possibility of entering a new world. However, she becomes the stone of despair between Jangja's space and the world. The daughter-in-law was anxious about the possibility of her freedom. When she looked behind her, she turned into a stone, and the stone symbolized that situation of despair.
 However, in “The Legend of Jangja Pond,” the daughter-in-law does not just express herself as a “stone” for being unable to live as herself. It was also hoped that she could become herself. The symbol expressed as “Maitreya” or “Buddha” ultimately provides the foundation for “The Legend of Jangja Pond” to find its own identity. The story is about not giving up on the hope of successfully finding yourself. The daughter-in-law is lost in her despair. She loses direction in her life in the midst of an alien world. However, this means that she must despair to reach the moment wherein she can explore her identity. Accordingly, through the content of being embodied as a Buddha rather than just a stone, the subjects of the transmission can experience a fleeting moment of despair, and the daughter-in-law in stone reveals the meaning of her existence at that moment.
 The story does not tell us “what” the self is. It does not specify the type of life one should live. It merely mentions that despair is necessary, and it is important for each person to reveal the meaning of their own identity. No one can tell anyone how to live. All we can do is despair and go through the process of becoming ourselves in the meantime. “The Legend of Jangja Pond” can be seen as not only showing itself as something that stands still and thinking on its own but also as an invitation to live as a being of self-becoming in the subsequent process.