A Study on the Transformation and Variation of Affect in Transmission Reflected in the ‘Movement-Stoppage’ of t he Legend of t he ‘ I sland That Moved and Stopped’

A Study analyzes affective transformations present within the sequential structure of ‘moving-stopping’ in the Korean geomorphological origin legend of the ‘Island That Floated In and Stopped,’ employing a new materialist perspective. Twelve transmitted legends exhibit contrasting affects: some versions express awe and wonder towards the vitality and dynamism of nature, whereas others reflect negative affects regarding women’s actions that halt the islands or the islands’ eventual locations. Previous studies predominantly interpret these negative affects as outcomes of patriarchal transformations negatively impacting female deities. This research further highlights the affective transformations and narrative complexities arising from human recognition and responses to natural vitality. Drawing on new materialism, the study identifies affective transformations as affects emerging from interconnected vitality shared by humans and nature (matter). When islands’ movements are controlled by human intention, negative affects emerge through the narrative logic of ‘taboo-disclosure.’ Conversely, positive affects develop through ‘response-interaction,’ which emphasizes respect, naming, and mutual responsiveness with nature. This narrative approach is argued to represent an animistic imagination, exploring coexistence possibilities beyond anthropocentric worldviews. Ultimately, the legend offers narrative principles supporting affective coexistence between humans and nature, advocating the overcoming of anthropocentrism and the establishment of symbiotic human-nature relationships in response to contemporary ecological crises.