<구렁덩덩신선비>와 인도네시아 <뱀 남자>에 보이는 샤먼의 설화적 변모

The folktale of “Gureungdungdung Shinseonbi” is famous not only for us but also for the world. It is listed in the category “AT425, The Search for the Lost Husband” in the Arne-Thomson category. In 1937, Jensen and Niggemeyer investigated and reported several tales, “Snake Man” or “Snake Husband,” from a primitive tribe living on Seram Island in Indonesia’s Moluka Islands. In the story of “Snake Man” handed down from this primitive tribe, it has pixels like our “Gureungdungdung Shinseonbi” or the folk tales of Greece and France. I understand that the confrontation between this world and the underworld and the subject of transportation are better revealed and I want to show the process. “Shinseonbi” is interpreted as a myth or as a psychology of marriage and female maturity, and you can understand why through the <Snake Man> story.
Compared to “Gureungdungdung Shinseonbi” the big framework for the youngest daughter to marry the snake groom is the same, but we do not see the pixel that the sisters kill the youngest and revive the dead sister. There was a time when animals or nature and humans were one. They could marry each other. There was an opportunity for humans to take off their animal nature. This can be referred to as a culture represented by food. In this way, man and nature are completely separated. However, humans, who became more conscious of the existential problem of death, demanded the existence of Shaman who could overcome death. A person with both animal and human experiences played the role of Shaman. This folktale can be understood as a history of narrating the historical development that the residents of Seram Island have experienced over the years. It is thought that this is the reason why this narrative is short, simple, and deeply interested.
The legend of “Gureungdungdung Shinseonbi” showed the appearance of a shaman in a dual way. The groom’s trip to Seoul shows him moving away from the shamanic function. In the second half, the snake groom loses his divine function and appears as an ordinary man who simply misses his wife, and rather appears to be a son bound by his mother. Bride’s journey is in great contrast as it shows the process of abandoning the past self and being reborn as a new being. However, in the end, the process was transformed into a feminine life process that fits itself into a collection of poems.
In summary, if “Snake Man” is a story that shows the function of shaman to the world without losing its mythical aspect, the “Gureungdungdung Shinseonbi” story shows that the role of shaman is weakened and replaced by the process of marriage. On the one hand, while Korea is reinforced by the strong shaman myth shown in “Baridegi,” it can be seen that dualization has been achieved in the direction of weakening into the folktale of the initiation ceremony.