Comparative Literary Exploration of Korean and South American Indigenous Oral Tales: Focusing on Cosmology

This study compares and analyzes cosmological perspectives in the oral tales of Korean and South American indigenous people, focusing specifically on the Ayoreo. Cosmology, defined as the conceptualization of the universe from a human perspective, addresses fundamental questions about the universe and the methods of answering them. These questions and their narrative resolutions, often centered on primal elements, offer insights into broader understandings of the universe. The main elements of cosmology—heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars—are examined by categorizing the narratives into “thoughts about the heaven and earth” and “thoughts about the sun, moon, and stars.” While both Korean and Ayoreo traditions regard these elements as central to their cosmological views, notable differences emerge. In the case of the separation of heaven and earth, in Korean oral tales, divine beings frequently serve as the agents of cosmic formation. For instance, a god often facilitates the separation of heaven and earth. Conversely, Ayoreo narratives depict this separation as the personified sky moving from the earth to the “present-day sky.” In the case of the sun, moon, and stars, Korean oral tales describe their origins in divine acts, such as parts of a god’s body forming celestial objects or gods manipulating multiple suns and moons. These multiple suns and moons were discovered by gods, and stars were created with extra suns and moons. These celestial bodies are often portrayed as familial entities, such as couples, brothers, and sisters. In the oral tales of the Ayoreo, however, the sun, moon, and stars are described as originally living on earth in human form before ascending to the sky, where they became the celestial bodies we recognize today. While familial relationships are also present, Ayoreo tales emphasize more universal aspects. Overall, Korean oral tales tend to highlight divine involvement and a distinct separation of celestial and terrestrial realms. In contrast, Ayoreo narratives portray the sky, earth, sun, moon, and stars as originally humans who lived on the “land of today” before ascending to the “sky of today” and transforming, thereby fundamentally eliminating the intervention of divine beings. In addition, these tales reflect a worldview in which the sky and the world are perceived as separate yet essentially connected. Thus, the perception of sharing, to some extent, is deeply embedded in thenarrative traditions.