총 44페이지

Culture Focus
4-2.DestroyedIslands
Like The Secret of Usando, there is also a story of an island completely
Minhwa
disappearing,notjustappearinganddisappearingrepeatedly.Inparticular,
stories about islands disappearing commonly include the lore that they
of
School
were “destroyed by creatures.” The story of the island disappearing is
ⓒThe
related to the birth of Dokdo. In the past, there were seven islands in the
East Sea, and the Japanese often invaded the islands. Then, to stop the
invasion, the dragon god destroyed the five islands with his tail, and the
▲ nKorea,dragonshavebeen
two remaining islands were Ulleung Island and Dokdo. Professor Nunn
deeply associated with the
explainsthenaturalbackgroundtothestoryoftheislanddisappearing.He
sea. In addition, dragons
were considered powerful and
says, “Many parts of the Pacific Ocean are volcanically and tectonically
virtuouscreatures.
active, including the ocean areas off the Korean Peninsula. This means that islands form from volcanic
eruptions under the sea and islands sometimes disappear. This was the case with Dokdo.” According to
theNortheastAsianHistoryFoundation,Dokdoisavolcanicislandthatwascreatedwhenanunderwater
volcano erupted between 4.6 million and 2.5 million years ago. As Ulleung Island and Dokdo are
located at the end of the Pacific Rim orogenic belt,* where earthquakes frequently occur, the damage
from tsunamis is significant. In the past, a large earthquake occurred near Dokdo, causing one side of
the island to collapse. As time went by and the other side descended, the island was not detectable on
the surface. Therefore, people developed a story about the island permanently falling below sea level
anddisappearing.Infact,thepartwhereitsays,“Thedragonstrucktheseaandtheislanddisappeared,”
suggests that there was a large tremor like an earthquake. The tales confirm the fog and wind on Dokdo
andeventheearthquakesthatoccuralongtheplateboundary.ProfessorNunnsays,“Amythrelatedtothe
disappearance of the island of Teonimanu--Solomon Islands--about 300 to 400 years ago and the island
of Vuniivilevu--Fiji Islands--about 800 years ago tells of the island being destroyed by a monster. This
confirmsthatthemythofislandsdisappearingfromearthquakessharessimilarcharacteristics.”Thestory
ofanislanddisappearingduetoanunderseaearthquakeisacommonfeaturenotonlyinKoreabutalso
instoriesfromothercountriesborderingthePacificOcean,suchasIndonesia.Thesetales,whichfeltlike
exaggerated fictional stories, are based on actual phenomena originating from their respective natural
environments.
*Orogenicbelt:Anareawheretectonicmovementsformingmountainsormountainrangeshaveoccurredinthepastorarecurrentlylikelyto
occur.
Afolktalecanbeconsideredafictionalstory,asitoftenfeaturesexaggeratedeventsthatcannotoccurin
reality. However, not many people know that the seemingly absurd tale is based on reality. In particular,
immortaltalesrevealtheregion’sspecialculturalbackground,beliefs,andnaturalenvironment.Therefore,
it is sufficient to use them as a source of information to determine Dokdo’s true history and culture
country’sculture.WhilethesovereigntyofDokdoisbeingchallenged,wecantakeastepbackfromthe
politicalapproachesandlearnaboutDokdothroughanewapproachlikefolktales.TheArgushopesthis
willserveasanopportunitytodiscovertheculturalrootsofDokdothroughvariousunknownfactorssuch
ashistory,religion,andthenaturalenvironment.
yewonj04@hufs.ac.kr
36
www.theargus.org

현재 포커스의 아래내용들은 동일한 컨텐츠를 가지고 페이지넘김 효과및 시각적 효과를 제공하는 페이지이므로 스크린리더 사용자는 여기까지만 낭독하시고 위의 페이지이동 링크를 사용하여 다음페이지로 이동하시기 바랍니다.