Earticle

“Rereading the Fairy Tales of “Bluebeard” from a view of Inter-textuality.” Studies in English Language & Literature. 37.4 (2011): 45-67. This paper is to confirm that rereading so many different versions of “Bluebeard” from a view of inter-textuality is worthwhile. The tale of “Bluebeard,” as Heidi A. Heiner suggests, is inarguably one of the most fascinating fairy tales we have, not only due to its content-after all, there aren’t many fairy tales about serial killing husbands-but also due to its continuing influence in many areas of art. Looking for “Bluebeard” in the contemporary landscape, the original version of “La Barbe bleue” by Charles Perrault has been rewritten and recreated so many times that it is not possible to distinguish it from the other versions. Actually, many different versions of “Bluebeard” go on repeating themselves around the world at this very moment. However, so many different versions of “Bluebeard” enable us to read and reread the fairy tales from different point of views or from a view of intertextuality. It is possible to infer the substantial nature of all humankind of the world by inter-textual rereading, Accordingly, identifying the intrinsic meaning of the fairy tales, deriving common meaning from the various versions of the same text in the interdependent ways, is very proliferating. (Pai Chai University)

Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard depicts the psychic transformation of the protagonist, Rabo Karabekian. Karabekian evolves as the new renaissance hero, who interacts with and learns from female characters; this new hero acknowledges the significance of nourishment and the hope of rebirth. The protagonist’s transformation enables him to confront and heal his traumatic past and give birth to artistic creations leading to a new self-identity. Karabekian’s transformation and regenerating experience can be theoretically framed by Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of “grotesque realism.” As a site of the carnival-grotesque spirit, Karabekian’s last painting allows his personal experience to be merged with communal/collective ones. In doing so, this painting elicits multiple interpretations via interaction with the viewers, defying any authoritative or official version of meanings and subverting social and artistic hierarchies. Such social interactions are carefully laid within a new, playful paradigm of a children’s game and the mythical Bluebeard motif. Not only does Bluebeard show Karabekian’s transformation as a renaissance, but it also provides for the readers a means of participating in the same process of regeneration and invites them to celebrate the transformation.

본 논문은 17세기 프랑스를 중심으로 유럽에서 전승되던 푸른 수염 민담이 각 시대와 문화권을 넘나들며 변용된 양상과 방식을 아내의 위반과 행위주체성의 주제적 측면에서 논의하였다. 푸른 수염 내러티브를 다룬 텍스트들 중에서 본 논문은 페로(Perrault)의 동화 「푸른 수염」(“Bluebeard”), 카터(Carter)의 단편소설 「피로 물든 방」(“Bloody Chamber”), 하성란의 단편소설 「푸른 수염의 첫 번째 아내」를 중점적으로 분석하였다. 페로, 카터, 하성란의 텍스트에서 발견되는 공통점과 차이점들은 아내가 위반을 감행하는 순간, 즉 금지된 방의 문을 여는 순간을 전후하여 행위주체성을 중심으로 논의가 진행되었다. 페로는 푸른 수염 민담의 최초 기록자이자 이 민담을 동화문학의 장르로 정착시킨 작가이다. 지난 수세기동안 서양 문화의 대표적인 ‘집단적 판타지’로 자리 잡은 푸른 수염 내러티브, 즉 금지된 방, 여성의 호기심, 위반과 불복종의 모티브는 바로 페로의 동화에서 그 기원을 찾을 수 있다. 하지만 페로는 동화를 쓰는 과정에서 프랑스 절대왕정 시대의 가치체계와 규범을 전파하고 강화하려는, ‘교훈적’이고 ‘근대적’인 목적을 위해 당시의 푸른 수염 민담을 심각하게 훼손하고 변형시켰다. 즉 페로의 생존 당시에는 용감하고 주체적인 여성으로 회자되었던 푸른 수염의 아내는 페로의 기록 이후 순종적이면서도 호기심의 유혹에 굴복하여 불복종의 죄를 저지른, 교훈과 질책의 대상이 되는 여성으로 변모했다. 카터의 단편소설은 20세기 영미소설에서 페로의 동화를 변용한 가장 유명한 사례라고 할 수 있다. 카터의 「푸른 수염」다시쓰기는 익숙한 장르인 동화라는 ‘옛 병’에 폭발적인 ‘새 술’, 즉 페미니즘의 시각을 부어넣은 시도라고 볼 수 있다. 카터는 익숙한 장르 문법을 일정 부분 활용하면서 권력과 성차에 근거한 성 이데올로기야말로 자본주의체제 가부장적 성 담론의 핵심 내용이라는 사실을 드러낸다. 하성란의 단편소설은, 맨 처음 푸른 수염의 첫 번째 아내는 과연 어떤 이유로 희생자가 되었을까, 하는 상상력에서 쓰였다고 할 수 있다. ‘도대체 나는 무슨 잘못을 했을까’ 라는 여주인공의 반복되는 자문이 보여주듯이, 하성란의 소설은 잘못된 선택으로 인해 한 여성에게 닥친 우연한 재앙을 인간의 공통적인 삶의 조건으로 형상화하는 데 초점을 맞추고 있다. 하지만 본 논문에서 살펴본 바와 같이 하성란의 소설은 결혼 이데올로기에 순응하는 여성, 위반을 통한 여성의 지식과 진실 추구, 여성의 행위주체성, ‘허스토리’를 전하는 여성주체 등, 페미니즘의 공통 주제를 논의하는 데 있어서 중요한 텍스트로 활용되었다.

This paper explores the diverse forms and transformative versions of ‘Bluebeard’ stories in terms of the wife’s transgression. The paper focuses on Perrault’s fairy tale, “Bluebeard”, Carter’s short story, “Bloody Chamber”, and Ha Seong-ran’s short story, “The First Wife of Bluebeard.” The Bluebeard stories have long been considered as the texts that enunciate the critical consequences of women’s curiosity and disobedience. However, as this paper has disclosed, Perrault’s “Bluebeard”, whose themes centers around a forbidden chamber, a curious wife, and a wife’s disobedience, distorts the folkloric versions of Bluebeard stories in a number of ways. Though Perrault’s version blames and warns of the wife’s curiosity and disobedience, other Bluebeard versions of his era differ greatly in portraying and depicting the wife’s brave acts and characters. As one of the well-known versions of Bluebeard stories in the 20th century, Carter’s “Bloody Chamber” incorporates the basic plots of Bluebeard story but rewrites and refutes the whole notions of androcentrism and sex discrimination ideology prevalent in Perrault’s fairy tale. Ha Seong-ran’s version of Bluebeard story, “The First Wife of Bluebeard”, seems to consider the fate of the first wife of Bluebeard: What is she curious about and what does she see in that forbidden chamber? As this paper unfolds the tale of the first wife’s experience, Ha’s short story turns out to be an important feminist text featuring the issues of marriage ideology, women’s pursuit of knowledge and truth, transgressive women, and women’s telling of ‘her story’.

Park, Yunki. “Rereading the Fairy Tales of “Bluebeard” from a view of Inter-textuality.” Studies in English Language & Literature. 37.4 (2011): 45-67. This paper is to confirm that rereading so many different versions of “Bluebeard” from a view of inter-textuality is worthwhile. The tale of “Bluebeard,” as Heidi A. Heiner suggests, is inarguably one of the most fascinating fairy tales we have, not only due to its content-after all, there aren’t many fairy tales about serial killing husbands-but also due to its continuing influence in many areas of art. Looking for “Bluebeard” in the contemporary landscape, the original version of “La Barbe bleue” by Charles Perrault has been rewritten and recreated so many times that it is not possible to distinguish it from the other versions. Actually, many different versions of “Bluebeard” go on repeating themselves around the world at this very moment. However, so many different versions of “Bluebeard” enable us to read and reread the fairy tales from different point of views or from a view of intertextuality. It is possible to infer the substantial nature of all humankind of the world by inter-textual rereading, Accordingly, identifying the intrinsic meaning of the fairy tales, deriving common meaning from the various versions of the same text in the interdependent ways, is very proliferating. (Pai Chai University)