Fakultät für Ostasienwissenschaften Transformations of Xiyouji in Korean Intertexts and Hypertexts Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Dr. phil. vorgelegt von Barbara Wall, M.A. aus Neumünster Referent/in: Prof. Dr. Marion Eggert Korreferent/in: Prof. Dr. Barbara Mittler Bochum 2014 2 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 5 Gérard Genette‟s theory of intertexts and hypertexts ………............... 6 Xiyouji as hypotext, hypertext and intertext………………………….. 15 Multiple facets of Xiyouji mirrored in intertexts and hypertexts……... 23 1. Korean intertexts of Xiyouji before the 20th century……………………..... 34 1.1. Transformations of Sun Wukong……………………………………... 34 1.1.1. The “impertinent” Sun Wukong in Chŏkhu haeng……………….. 34 1.1.2. The “obedient” Sun Wukong in inscriptions on Gushi huapu……. 37 1.1.3. Sun Wukong‟s “superhuman power” in Hong Kiltong chŏn……… 41 1.1.4. Sun Wukong as roof figure in Ch‟angdŏkkung suri togam ŭigwe… 47 1.1.5. The “unique” Sun Wukong in sijo………………………………… 55 1.2. Transformations of particular episodes of Xiyouji…….………………. 59 1.2.1. The Cart Slow Kingdom episode in Pak t‟ongsa………………….. 59 1.2.2. The Cobweb Cave episode in Kuunmong…………………………… 60 1.2.3. The “false Sun Wukong” in Che Im Mi Fu-p‟ung ch‟ŏp hu............ 64 1.2.4. The Black Rooster Kingdom episode in Pongsan mask dance…... 65 1.2.5. Dragon execution episode in: 1.2.5.1. Kuunmong………………………………………………… 69 1.2.5.2. Annotations on Muyŏm hwasang pimyŏng……………….. 72 1.2.5.3. Tang T‟aejong chŏn……………………………………….. 74 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….. 80 2. Korean hypertexts of Xiyouji in the 20th and 21st centuries.….…………... 82 2.1. Satirical hypertexts……………………………………………………. 82 2.1.1. Satire on the cold war and Park Chung Hee in Sinyŏk Sŏyugi…… 82 2.1.1.1. Allusions to non-political affairs………………………….. 84 2.1.1.2. Satire involving the cold war….…………………………. 87 2.1.1.3. Satire involving domestic affairs………………………… 92 Conclusion………………………………………………… 106 2.1.2. Challenging established thought patterns in Sŏyŏk p‟ant‟aji……... 107 2.1.2.1. “Voicing the silenced and marginalized”…………………. 110 3 2.1.2.2. Harbingers of failure……………………………………… 113 2.1.2.3. Humanizing monsters……………………………………... 120 2.1.2.4. Failure and new beginning………………………………... 134 Conclusion………………………………………………… 137 2.1.3. Cyber culture and “War on Terror” in Yi Inhwa‟s Sŏyugi………… 139 2.1.3.1. The disaster of hyperspaces……………………………….. 140 2.1.3.2. Digital war between the US and North Korea in 2005…… 148 2.1.3.3. Sun as imperialistic President of Penglai Planet………….. 152 2.1.3.4. The journey to the “pattern of all living beings”………….. 158 Conclusion………………………………………………… 170 2.2. Hypertexts with educational purposes………………………………. 172 2.2.1. Business management guide –Mr. Son chikchang esŏ saranamnǔn kisul………………………. 172 2.2.1.1. The significance of Sun Wukong‟s transformability…….. 173 2.2.1.2. Zhu Bajie‟s fickleness as a negative example……………. 178 2.2.1.3. Endurance as key to success………………………………. 180 2.2.1.4. Self-realization as „enlightenment‟……………………….. 187 Conclusion………………………………………………… 190 2.2.2. In search of Tangun‟s scriptures–Sin Sŏyugi…………………….. 191 2.2.2.1. Sun Wukong‟s rebellion as master of T‟aegǔk sǒnbǒp…… 193 2.2.2.2. T‟aegǔk sǒnbǒp as a way to long life………………......... 201 2.2.2.3. The pilgrims unite to search for Tangun………………….. 208 2.2.2.4. The journey: “Do not try to benefit the world!”………….. 213 2.2.2.5. The wordless scriptures of Tangun……………………….. 221 Conclusion………………………………………………… 224 2.2.3. In search of the Magical Thousand Character Text –Mabŏp ch‟ŏnjamun……………………………………………… 226 2.2.3.1. Chinese characters as power source………………………. 228 2.2.3.2. With friendship, trust and Chinese binomials against demonic energy…………………………………………… 235 2.2.3.3. How the Magical Thousand Character Text is connected to the pollution of nature…………………………………….. 245 2.2.3.4. Good becomes evil becomes good………………………... 252 Conclusion………………………………………………… 262 2.3. Deconstruction of ideological discourses in Ch‟oe In-hun‟s Sŏyugi….. 264 4 2.3.1. Semantic level…………………………………………………….. 267 2.3.1.1. Travel: beginning with the end……………………………. 267 2.3.1.2. Transformations: ending with collapse…………………… 271 2.3.1.3. Hindering encounters: struggle with illusions……………. 274 2.3.1.4. Stimulating messages and motivation: moving towards disillusionment…………………………………………… 283 2.3.1.5. “Greyness” as a means to move on……………………….. 288 2.3.1.6. Two disillusioned characters: Sun Wukong and Tokko Chun………………………………………………………. 292 2.3.2. Structural level……………………………………………………. 296 2.3.2.1. Prologue as a guide for a journey of the mind…………… 296 2.3.2.2. Polyphony of mirrors……………………………………... 302 2.3.2.3. Repetitions and circularity as a means for multi- perspectiveness……………………………………………. 306 2.3.3. Xiyouji as a call for dialogue…………….………………………... 309 2.3.3.1. Ch‟oe In-hun‟s Xiyouji …………………………………… 309 2.3.3.2. Beautiful destruction as final destination…………………. 313 3. Outlook on non-Korean hypertexts of Xiyouji……………………………... 320 3.1. Some American hypertext…………………………………………….. 320 3.2. Another call for dialogue–Gao Xingjian‟s Lingshan…………………. 323 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 328 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………… 332 5 Introduction1 Xiyouji 西遊記, or The Journey to the West, is one of the most popular narratives in East Asia, especially in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam. It tells the story of the Monkey King Sun Wukong, who protects the Buddhist monk Tripitaka during his odyssey from China to the Western Heaven in search of the real Buddhist scriptures. Besides Sun Wukong, Tripitaka is accompanied by three other disciples: Zhu Bajie (the pig), Sha Wujing (the monster), and a dragon horse. Xiyouji is usually considered one of the celebrated Four Masterworks of the Ming Dynasty. While the story is mainly known today in the form of adaptations-- for example, as films, computer games or comics-- the 16th century Ming novel is generally regarded as the “original”. In this dissertation I question the academic focus on an “original” text and highlight instead the variety and creativity of the many different adaptations of the story. I divide these variants into what Gérard Genette defines as “intertexts” and “hypertexts” and examine in an excursus how “hypertexts” were traditionally considered inferior to the highly praised “original”. While I acknowledge the accomplishments of the 16th century novel, I argue that Xiyouji can be understood as a collection of hypotexts, hypertexts and intertexts, each of which mirrors different facets of the story. To support my argument I analyze a selection of 1 This work was supported by the Core University Program for Korean Studies through the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service of the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2009-MA-1001; AKS-2014-OLU-2250001). 6 Korean intertexts of Xiyouji originating from the 14th century to today. This analysis mainly serves as a way to highlight the variability of Xiyouji within a manageable frame, in this case a specific geographical context. At the same time it provides an opportunity to illuminate one particular context in which the variations of Xiyouji are embedded and gives insight into the world of the Korean readers who lived with this story. Gérard Genette‟s theory of intertexts and hypertexts The theoretical framework of this study is Gérard Genette‟s system of transtextuality, which he develops in Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree. While the term “intertextuality” is relatively vague, Genette‟s arbitrary concept of transtextuality is more precise. In his introduction to intertextuality Graham Allen admits that [i]ntertextuality, one of the central ideas in contemporary literary theory, is not a transparent term and so, despite its confident utilization by many theorists and critics, cannot be evoked in an uncomplicated manner. Such a term is in danger of meaning nothing more than whatever each particular critic wishes it to mean.2 2 Allen (2011): 2. 7 In a footnote in Palimpsests Genette seems to comment on the opacity of intertextuality by saying: “It is high time that some High Commissioner of the Republic of Letters be appointed to enforce a coherent and consistent terminology.”3 There is no clear definition of the term “intertextuality”,4 and Genette seems to believe that any attempt to search for a commonly accepted definition of intertextuality is doomed to failure. Consequently, Genette approaches this problem with ironic openness concerning the terminology he uses.5 He begins Palimpsests in the following way: The subject of this study is what I once called, for lack of a better term, paratextuality. I have since thought better of it – or perhaps worse (that remains to be seen) – and have used „paratextuality‟ to designate something altogether different. It has become clear that this entire imprudent project must be taken up anew.6 He goes on to stress the temporariness of his terminology by stating: “[a]t the time of writing (13 October 1981), I am inclined to recognize five types of transtextual relationships.”7 Therefore, the terms he uses, including “intertextuality” and “hypertextuality”, are not meant to be stable terms with a verifiable definition, but rather temporary “tools” that are suitable for whatever project he is working on. Despite the confusion that neologisms might engender and the danger of falling prey to 3 Genette (1997): 429, FN 2. 4 For a discussion of intertextuality, see Allen (2011): introduction. 5 Prof. Monika Schmitz-Emans‟ lecture on intertextuality at Ruhr-University Bochum in the winter semester 2012/2013 was very inspiring for this thread, especially her lecture on Genette (6 November 2012). 6 Genette (1997): 1. 7 Genette (1997): 1. 8 arbitrariness8, as Linda Hutcheon warns in her seminal work on parody, I will still follow Genette and use his concepts of intertextuality and hypertextuality as “tools”, given that they seem to be most suitable for my project to shed light on Korean intertexts and hypertexts of Xiyouji.