메도루마 슌(目取真俊) 문학에 있어서의 ‘나비’ 표상 연구

Abstract

This study examined the symbolism of “butterfly” in four pieces of Medoruma’s literature. First of all, Medoruma's “butterfly” is based on Okinawa's folklore symbol system, such as the “soul of the lion” or the “Onari God faith” that female siblings protect male siblings spiritually. However, Medoruma not only restored butterfly to such a folklore symbol system, but also established it as a motif that arouses the tragedy and wounds of modern and contemporary histories such as Brazilian immigration history and Okinawa war, and symbolizes the Okinawa region per se, which has overcome the adversity with its own bright power in the long history. Medoruma intended to express his will to resist the Japanese policies from the late 1990s to replace problems such as the US military base with the illusion of 'island of healing' to form a tourism boom or entertaining social atmosphere and represented the will to overcome with ‘butterfly’.