The purpose of this study was to examine the real meaning of <Fox Sister>folktales. Most people believe that <Fox Sister> is a brutal and scary story where a couple desperately prays for a daughter, but their daughter turns into a fox eve... The purpose of this study was to examine the real meaning of <Fox Sister>folktales. Most people believe that <Fox Sister> is a brutal and scary story where a couple desperately prays for a daughter, but their daughter turns into a fox every night to eat animal livers and eventually kill the entire family. It is considered a nightmare great for a hot summer's day. Some people had negative views about <Fox Sister> as a story with bad intentions to stop women's social activities and strengthen man-centered, paternal society, based on the fact that the daughter of an innocent couple turned out to be a source of fear and violence that kills the animals and her family with no reason. However, it is hard to understand why the major character of a popular folktale kills the animals and her family for no reason and why the story was still succeeded by many people. If <Fox Sister> was merely a scary story or a nightmare or had bad intentions to strengthen the man-centered, paternal society, it must have not been succeeded as a folktale, but <Fox Sister> is still told by many people today. I wondered why <Fox Sister> is still shared by many people when it is a violent and negative story as many people think. My questions were why the successor group succeeded <Fox Sister> without providing a valid reason ‘why the daughter kills the animals and her own parents and siblings’ or changing the context, what aspect of <Fox Sister> continues its succession, and what the successor group tried to enjoy through <Fox Sister>. I used 13 versions in 『Suk Jae Lim's Collection: Korea's Folktales (‘Folktales’)』 to answer my questions about <Fox Sister>. In order to examine which epic characteristics of <Fox Sister> continued the succession of the story, I analyzed the epic structure and transition of each version of <Fox Sister>. First, the epic structure was the outcome of identifying the 'basic epic structure' of <Fox Sister> according to the epic sequence and applying Dong Il Cho's ‘luck’-‘(unexpected) adversity’ method. <Fox Sister> was reflecting the effort to oppose the fate and overcome the adversity spontaneously. Also, the realistic problem in the folktale is presented across the epic through the conflicts of characters in the epic structure and the repetition of cases or phrases was used to suggest the identity or Fox Sister 's brutality and violence. For the transition of <Fox Sister>, the versions were classified into different types based on two motifs. The first motif was that ‘the daughter was born as a result of desire to have a daughter’ and the second motif was the 'birth' of a younger sister. The first motif appears in all versions of the ‘folktale’ to provide a critical cause of event and generate similarity across the versions. The second motif is a critical factor that generates originality of each version according to whether the sister is a 'fox' or not. The versions of <Fox Sister> in 『Folktales』 were classified into ‘identity type’ and ‘no identity type’. The ‘identity type’ is further classified into the 'birth' type where the sister is identified as a fox from birth and the 'exposure' type where the sister is exposed in the middle of the story. In the ‘birth’ type, a lady serves as a helper to kill Fox Sister for the family to return to an underwater palace and live happily ever after. This type shows that <Fox Sister> is not a folktale that stops women's social activities and strengthens the man-centered, paternal society. Unlike the 'birth' type told by a male speaker, the ‘exposure’ type is told by a female speaker and ends with the brother/son's safe return. This reflects women's lives and experiences are portrayed by a female speaker. Finally, ‘no identity type’ suggests that the sister was a fox when she is killed by her brother or does not suggest her identity at all. Unlike other types, it shows the openness and variability of folktale most clearly. The epic structure and transition of <Fox Sister> were studied to examine the method of communication that allows continuous succession of story. Finally, the symbols that reflect the thoughts and culture of successor group of <Fox Sister> should be analyzed in order to examine what the successor group of <Fox Sister> shared and tried to communicate through <Fox Sister>. The symbols are reflected in the successor group's thoughts, customs, and culture before they even realize it. The symbols reflected in <Fox Sister> as images are the motifs related to the meanings and topics which the successor group tried to enjoy and succeed through <Fox Sister>. I thought that <Fox Sister> is a folktale that portrays the brother's self-realization or individuation to become a whole-minded person with both consciousness and subconsciousness, and examined the meaning of <Fox Sister> using C. G. Jung's analytical psychology. The sister in <Fox Sister> is the anima of femininity in the brother's subconsciousness and reflects a negative anima resulting from suppressing and excluding women from the man-first, man-centered society. Overcoming the negative anima is possible when a positive anima is met by exploring the subconsciousness and takes one closer to self-realization. In other words, <Fox Sister> tells through the story of brother and sister that self-realization can be achieved through the harmonious balance of femininity (anima) and masculinity (animus) in one's subconsciousness.
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