善德王은 신라 왕 중에서는 여성이었고 신라 여성 중에서는 왕이었다. 신라 사회에서 예외적인 인물이었기 때문에, 기존 연구에서는 이 인물을 어떻게 이해할 것인가가 문제였다. 그래서 선덕왕에게 왕이 될 자격과 왕으로서의 능력이 있었는가라는 질문을 던졌다. 이와 같은 질문은 여성을 ‘왕’이라는 영역 밖에 있는 타자로, 주체가 아닌 대상으로 보는 시각에서 비롯되었기 때문에 선덕왕을 왕이 되는 이야기에서 주체가 아닌 대상으로 만들어 버렸다. 선덕왕을 이 이야기에서 주인공이 되도록 하려면 선덕왕이 자신의 즉위에 대해 말할 수 있는 질문을 던져야 한다. 선덕왕은 왕이 되고 싶었을까? 왕이 되기 위해 무었을 했을까? 선덕왕은 부계제 사회에서 아들이 없을 경우 한 대에 한해 주어지는 딸의 왕위 계승 자격을 가지고 있었다. 이 자격에 자신의 능력을 더하여 지지 세력을 모았다. 그 과정에서 자신의 자격과 능력을 끊임없이 드러내었는데, 이것은 신라 사람들이 신라 여성에게 부여한 ‘여성성’에서 벗어난 행동이었다. 여기서 선덕왕이 왕이 되기 위해 이른바 ‘탈여성화 전략’을 세웠다는 생각을 해 볼 수 있었다. 이 전략은 선덕왕이 자신에게 ‘할머니’란 이미지를 부여한 것에서 잘 드러난다. 신라 사람들은 ‘할머니’를 ‘여성 그 이상의 존재’라고 생각하여 정치하는 여성을 ‘할머니’로 변형시켜 기록하였다. 선덕왕은 이 점에 착안하여 왕이 될 때 받은 ‘聖祖皇姑’라는 호와 ‘자애로운’ 행적을 가지고 ‘할머니’의 이미지를 만들었다. 그리하여 선덕왕은 ‘女主’가 아니라 ‘王’이라는 인식을 신라 사람들에게 심어 줄 수 있었다. 한편, 자신에게 부여된 여성성마저도 부정할 수 있는 전략을 세웠다는 것에서 왕이 되고자 하는 선덕왕의 의지가 강력했음을 엿볼 수 있다. 신라 여성이 왕이 되는 과정과 통치하는 모습은 신라 사회에서 여성이 정치인이 되어 정치를 하는 모습을 보여줄 수 있고 그 과정이 예외적인 상황일 수밖에 없는 까닭도 설명해준다. 신라인들은 정치에 참여하고자 하는 여성이 사회에서 부여받은 여성성을 약화시켜야 할 정도로 그 영역을 남성의 영역으로 간주했었다. 그리고 동화될 성향—탈여성화—을 띠어야만 거부감 없이 받아들였다. 선덕왕의 이야기는 이런 상황에서 여성이 자신의 성정체성(여성성과 남성성)을 적절히 활용하여 정치 영역에 진입한 것과 그 영역에서 활약한 모습을 보여 주었다.

Seondeok(善德) was a queen among Silla(新羅)’s 56 monarchs and enjoyed the highest official post as a woman. Her unique position in Silla history has made researchers ask questions about her qualification for the job and the ability to rule a country. But the questions resulting from a view of woman as an outsider in the political arena have ended up making Queen Seondeok a minor player in her ascending the throne. To make her play a leading part in the process, we should pose questions that she can tell her side of the story. Did Seondeok want to be a monarch? If so, what did she do? Queen Seondeok was first in line of succession as king Jinpyeong(眞平王)’s first daughter without brothers. With the qualification plus her political ability, she attracted her supporters. In doing so, she continued to demonstrate her qualification and ability, which was breaking the femininity that Silla society imposed on its women. From that, we can reasonably infer that Queen Seondeok was pursuing what is called the defeminization strategy for ascending the throne. The fact that she promoted an image of herself as grandmother clearly explains this strategy. Regarding a grandmother as being beyond women's confining social roles, Silla society recorded a woman politician as a grandmother. Particularly focusing on that, Queen Seondeok created the image of herself as a grandmother with her respectful title Seongjo Hwanggo(聖祖皇姑), sacred ancestor and imperial lady, and her affectionate doings. As a result, she could develop public awareness of herself as a monarch not a female ruler. Meanwhile, from the strategy that could deny her own femininity, we can see her strong will to ascend the throne. The story of Queen Seondeok’s ascending the throne and ruling a country explains why her case was a exceptional one. In Silla, politics was strictly confined to men, so women had to weaken their femininity and show their defeminizing traits to be assimilated into the arena. The story tells us vividly that she was effectively utilizing her gender idenity to engage in Silla's political circles.

Seondeok(善德) was a queen among Silla(新羅)’s 56 monarchs and enjoyed the highest official post as a woman. Her unique position in Silla history has made researchers ask questions about her qualification for the job and the ability to rule a country. But the questions resulting from a view of woman as an outsider in the political arena have ended up making Queen Seondeok a minor player in her ascending the throne. To make her play a leading part in the process, we should pose questions that she can tell her side of the story. Did Seondeok want to be a monarch? If so, what did she do? Queen Seondeok was first in line of succession as king Jinpyeong(眞平王)’s first daughter without brothers. With the qualification plus her political ability, she attracted her supporters. In doing so, she continued to demonstrate her qualification and ability, which was breaking the femininity that Silla society imposed on its women. From that, we can reasonably infer that Queen Seondeok was pursuing what is called the defeminization strategy for ascending the throne. The fact that she promoted an image of herself as grandmother clearly explains this strategy. Regarding a grandmother as being beyond women's confining social roles, Silla society recorded a woman politician as a grandmother. Particularly focusing on that, Queen Seondeok created the image of herself as a grandmother with her respectful title Seongjo Hwanggo(聖祖皇姑), sacred ancestor and imperial lady, and her affectionate doings. As a result, she could develop public awareness of herself as a monarch not a female ruler. Meanwhile, from the strategy that could deny her own femininity, we can see her strong will to ascend the throne. The story of Queen Seondeok’s ascending the throne and ruling a country explains why her case was a exceptional one. In Silla, politics was strictly confined to men, so women had to weaken their femininity and show their defeminizing traits to be assimilated into the arena. The story tells us vividly that she was effectively utilizing her gender idenity to engage in Silla's political circles.

Queen Seondeok, Queen, Grandmother, Royal succession, Gender history, Feminist history