Chaesaenggiwoo(蔡生奇遇) Consideration of Satire -Focusing on Character Formation and Desire-

Abstract

This article takes as its subject of study the Yadamgye(野談系) short novel Chaesaenggiwoo(蔡生奇遇). The purpose is to examine Old man Chae(蔡)’s Satirical character, his son’s psychological phase of fantasy, and traces of women’s desires.Through this, I would like to reveal that the way of depicting characters and desires contributes to effectively taking on satire. Previous studies have tended to look at the work mainly based on the confrontation between Old man Chae(蔡) and interpreter Kim Ryeong(金令). It seems that there was a strong intention to place the work in the coordinates toward modern realism novels by highlighting aspects that dynamically show social status trends during the modern transition period. However, as that view has solidified to this day, it is thought that areas excluded from the work also clearly existed. This paper focused on three aspects of the excluded areas. First, contrary to the existing view that defined Old manChae’s character as ‘serious’ and ‘stern’, it focuses on the fact that the fallen noble class is effectively being satirized by acquiring a comical typicality that goes back and forth between desire and respect (ideology) around ‘whims’ and ‘memory loss’. Next, the description of the fantastic desire detected in the son Chae-saeng(蔡生)’s gaze, attitude, and emotions shows that this text is not only composed of the axis of the confrontation between old man Chae and interpreter Kim Ryeong, but also that there is another axis of generational conflict between father and son. This tells us that the text contains a fantastic narrative of the son’s dual desire to fulfill his desire that goes against his father’s teachings without seriously violating his father’s world. Next, we examine how the fantastic desire detected in the son Chae-saeng’s gaze, attitude, and emotions reveals the duality of hesitation between his father’s teachings (ideology) and his desire. In addition, it is revealed that the son’s narrative is being satirized by depicting the narrative of a foolish person’s megalomaniac desire and windfall as the miraculous fulfillment of the desire is achieved solely by the interpreter. Lastly, by analyzing the desires of old man Chah’s wife, Chae-saeng’s wife, and Kim Ryeong’s daughter, we examine how each woman escapes from traditional hierarchical relationships and society’s expected gaze. In doing so, this article aims to reveal that the text satirizes the downtrodden yangban class in the late Joseon Dynasty while unleashing the various desires of the members of the Fallen Yangban family.