earticle

영어

This article sets out to research various strategies of ascertaining the identity of the Goryeong-gun area, after Ulleung-do the smallest district in Gyeongsangbuk-do. To escape the futility of the grand discourse of globalization that is weighing down on the humanities, this can be seen as a move towards the concreteness demanded by this so-called era of localization. Goryeong is the place where the state of Dae Gaya emerged, and where the new iron culture from the north took root and provided the momentum for the formation of a new state. After collecting various stories on the theme of iron implements that emerged against this historical background what could be called “iron-legends” I have tried to reveal their symbolic structure by analyzing the motifs and personae that appear in these legends. For example, I studied how elements from northern iron culture such as the frog, the three-legged crow, the iron-king Qiu, the cranial deformation etc. are expressed in Goryeong, and ascertained the motif of the smith-shaman with which figures such as Suro, Tarhae, Gangsu, Yeonorang and Se-onyeo can be identified. On the basis of this a narrative cycle centered on Goryeong’s Gaya civilization can be ascertained. The cycle comprises the following stages: “the heavenly blacksmith, the civilizing hero, the emergence of farming, the role of religions, and the state foundation.”