Abstract

The purpose of this study is to interpret Jeongseon Arirang from the aspects of love, romantic love and passionate love. One of the most fundamental functions of the words of Jeongseon Arirang is about singing songs in order to communicate with lovers. Jeongseon Arirang shows how people interpenetrate into other's mind by representing various aspects of their life, that is work, hardships, sorrow, yearning, and love. Thus, the words of Jeongseon Arirang are related to women's love. Through the song, Jeongseon Arirang, we can understand various patterns of Jeongseon people, or their society, nature, life, and love. Jeongseon Arirang has been sung not only by men of Jeongseon region but also by women in general. In this sense, Jeongseon Arirang can be said to record the life and love of Jeongseon people as a whole. The Jeongseon Arirang embodies the various content of bitter feelings of, for example, the wounds of love, separation, uneasiness of life, poverty, sexual desire and so on. With this, these words reveal the reality and wisdom of common people's life and love. Therefore, the words of Jeongseon Arirang are inseparably related to people's life and love. That means that when we listen to or sing Jeongseon Arirang, we should consider the situation of Korean women. Jeongseon Arirang is a folk song which is sung from generation to generation by spoken language. The history of Jeongseon Arirang dates back to the times even before Chosun Dynasty. The fundamental feature of folk song reflects people's pain, sorrow, and love. This study is to analyzes the words of Jeongseon Arirang, and finds the love and sexual appetite theme of men and women that dominates the song.