Na Kyung-soo: Geopolitical Background of the Jindo Region and Folkcultural Response

Hometown is a magical word that draws you moment by moment into a wistful feeling, a blend of people who come to mind, landscapes beyond three dimensions that appear fleetingly in dreams and memories, and events from days of joy, tranquility, and ignorance. However, there is always a sense of indebtedness toward hometown. It is a debt that cannot be calculated in monetary terms, and therefore, one that cannot be repaid even if one lives a lifetime. It is simply wonderful, yet there is a deep something that remains as a burden. I lived steeped in a vague, sentimental sense of duty that I had to complete a piece about my hometown someday. Moreover, this sense of obligation was amplified because I was writing all sorts of things under the pretext of majoring in folklore. It felt as if it were a natural duty imposed upon a folklorist whose hometown is Jindo. I realized this profoundly while taking on the responsibility of compiling the Jindo County History. I understood that the big and the small are separate matters. Jindo, which had seemed so small, felt as vast as the universe. Not only was it impossible to know it inside and out, but even if I tried to grasp it roughly, the limits of access were all too distinct. Therefore, I have never once boasted that I know Jindo's folklore better than anyone else. On the contrary, to the point of embarrassment, I often felt I was incapable of competing with certain people—though I cannot mention their real names here.

Korean title: 진도지역의 지정학적 배경과 민속문화적 대응

Korean author: 나경수

Korean publisher: 민속원

ISBN-13: 9788928515936