제주 금기어 유형과 의미 연구

Abstract

Taboos generally restrict people's consciousness and behavior by controlling the thoughts in human mind and making them think that something should not be done. Also, it has strong vitality and transmission power like tradition. This paper aims to look into the people’s though about taboos in Jeju, through taboo languages, which are the philosophy of life and the cultural products of the region. Accordingly, I analyzed various aspects through the classification of Jeju taboo languages by type to find out what activities were subject to taboo in daily life, where taboo languages have widely been used, such as clothing·food·housing, rite of passage, occupation, and seasonal customs. In addition, I also contemplated various concepts and meanings such as the visions of the old people about the universe, world, religion, life, and society in taboo words, which are developing human thinking. In order to examine the consciousness structure and lifestyle of the ancestors, I divided taboo languages in Jeju into three types: daily life, nature, and religion according to socio-cultural categories. As the result of classifications for three times, I could organize 617 taboo words, in to 10 categories, such as clothing·food·housing, rite of passage, seasonal customs, occupations, religions, nature, human relations, gender, objects, and body parts. Among the taboo languages I organized, the highest percentages of taboo languages were in categories which are related to daily life, and among them, there were many taboo languages in the order of rite of passage, clothing·food·housing, seasonal customs, occupations, body parts, gender, objects, and human relations. The objects of taboos are related to people, stuffs, actions, animals, faith and and so on, that is everything humans encounter in their lives. And it has been widely and variously formed throughout human life, along with realistic needs and problems of human to maintain a safe and peaceful daily life. I divided the subject of taboos into views of a lifestyle, a nature, and a faith, and interpreted the meanings from the perspectives of rationality, practicality, and educational contained therein. I first looked at taboos as a norm that must be observed within our society, in terms of axiomatic aspects of adjusting and educating individuals and society to work well systematically. Above all, it was important to protect food and life to survive. Also, taboos conveys guidelines and methods for smooth social life and basic manners. In addition, taboos contain not only information that pays attention to health, such as unsanitary environments, habits, and behaviors, but also the wisdom of life that informs the balance of work and rest and the use of objects. From the nature view of taboos, it was possible to examine the attitude of respecting the right to life of all natural objects and the symbiotic world view of nature and humans. This is the notion that all natural objects should be recognized for their uniqueness and that humans should not invade the realm of nature recklessly but respect. It also educates people that nature and humans are in a symbiotic relationship as a destiny community. In the case of faith view, which is inextricably related to taboos, taboos serves to protect the sacred realm and maintains the values and order of the community. Taboos are a must-have condition for rituals such as Gut(a ritual or exorcism performed by a Korean shaman) to proceed safely. So, members who participate in accept taboos to ensure the safety, perpetuation and order of the community, and conveys the value of the community to future generations. Taboo languages are the shortest instructive stories and a miniature of every story in the world. They condense long stories into one sentence, put people’s life stories in it, and let people know what is right or wrong. The message contained in a single sentence carries the joys and sorrows of countless people and exerts the strongest binding force and influence on human life. Stories of always being careful, clean-minded, and wary of frivolous behavior and attitudes for the future in taboo languages, does not exist only in the old days when taboo words had been created. It's still with us living in the 21st century and makes us reflect on ourselves and think about our lives.