Images of the Vulnerable Groups in Folk Culture: Focusing on People with Physical Disabilities in Folklore Policy Documents

This study examined the images of people with physical disabilities in folklore. The images of people with physical disabilities accumulate on a temporal continuum, living in the reality of the past and the reality of the present. Based on these images, vulnerable people with physical disabilities could be understood from a new perspective. This study analyzed 50 materials from the National Folk Museum of Korea, which was developed as part of the Folk Culture Policy to preserve and maintain folk culture. These materials constitute the official documentation of Korean folk culture. The results showed four types of images, categorized as positive and negative. The negative images were divided into “the image of a punished person”and “the image of a person in trouble,”and the positive images were divided into “the image of a humorous person”and “the image of a spiritual person.”The implications are twofold. First, it provides information on the internal image of people with disabilities. Second, it explains why disability policies are still ineffective. These findings suggest that policies aimed at preserving and maintaining the folk culture may be useful for understanding other policies.