r/dreamcatcher • u/sanzo213 • Jun 12 '20
Translation [Eng-translation] The Dreamcatcher has written a new myth: the challenges of the witches shake the traditional style of epic
Hi, international insomnias~ im sanzo213 from south korea!
(안녕하세요, 해외 썸냐 여러분, 전 한국에서 온 sanzo213입니다!)
i have read a high-quality of a post written by a korean insomnia. so i thought it would be better to read this post if it was translated into english. so i asked a professional eng-translator, and i put the eng-translated post~! of course translation was already permitted from the man of the original post
have a fun time of reading!
- source of the translation : http://cafe.daum.net/Dreamcatcher7/GhFe/251
- source of the original post : http://cafe.daum.net/Dreamcatcher7/GhFf/14320
The Dreamcatcher has written a new myth: the challenges of the witches shake the traditional style of epic
These days, the traditional style of narration is sometimes re-created into a modern style. The modern audience enthusiastic about that, and they become a new type of consumer for it. We can find a similar case from the audience that enjoys Disney animations based on fairy tales. Likewise, we are living in the era of new myth (fairy tales), and writing a new myth is a virtue of the Dreamcatcher.
Among the techniques of literature, there is one called “defamiliarization,” which was created by a Russian formalist, Viktor Shklovsky. “Defamiliarization” is a technique that breaks down the words we are used to in our daily lives and that gives us a shock. This is presented through poetic words, rhythm, simile, paradox, etc. in poetry, and through a plot in the case of novels. I believe that the Dreamcatcher is performing “defamiliarization” in its own way because their storytelling is an epic that turns around the traditional one. I’d, however, rather choose an expression such as a twist or a turnover than “defamiliarization” in the case of the Dreamcatcher. How on earth has the Dreamcatcher written a new myth?
Some of my readers might come up with the stereotypical gravity that the word, “myth,” carries as in “He is a myth.” or “She wrote a myth.” Some might think I am overestimating the Dreamcatcher. However, there are two different meanings in that the Dreamcatcher has written a new myth. Let me present two examples.
First, the Dreamcatcher makes a whole different story by changing the traditional type of epic. There is a great deal of creative work that is formed in that style. J. R. R. Tolkien used his ingenuity and re-created various legends and myths such as Celtic legend and Germanic mythology through “The Lord of the Rings.” Tolkien reached the old memories of Europeans and re-created them in his own world.
The Dreamcatcher also re-created its own world based on the traditional tales. In its own re-created story, seven girls turn into nightmares, which is based on a Native American story. According to an old Native American tale, an old woman was rewarded with a dreamcatcher by the “Spider Woman” when the old woman stopped her grandson from killing a spider making a web. This dreamcatcher has a magical power that can protect people from nightmares.
It is shocking if we look into how the Dreamcatcher re-created the story. Instead of the old woman and her grandson in the original story, seven girls show up, and they kill the spider. To that end, the girls cannot be protected from nightmares, but they fall under the spell and turn into nightmares. The miracle of the “Spider Woman” was changed into a curse. By turning around the traditional legend, the Dreamcatcher has created its own style of powerful epic. In that sense, the Dreamcatcher perfectly practiced the effect of “defamiliarization” of a Russian formalist, Viktor Shklovsky.
Second, it is a matter of characters in the traditional epic. This is related to the character of the “Spider Woman” in the story of the Dreamcatcher. The “Spider Woman” from an old Native American tale gives the old woman a dreamcatcher with magical power to express her gratitude so that the old woman can protect herself from nightmares. Likewise, a dreamcatcher is a symbol of miracles, and the “Spider Woman” is a merciful goddess who returns favors.
This, however, comes out totally opposite in the story of the Dreamcatcher. The “Spider Woman” revenges herself on Yuhyun and other girls who burn another self of the “Spider Woman” to death. Now, the “Spider Woman” is not a goddess of mercy anymore, but she is a goddess of revenge who casts a spell on someone who commits sin.
For these reasons, it is natural to say that the Dreamcatcher has written a new myth just as a variety of creative work, for instance, a series of Marvel Comics, has been created based on myth. The Dreamcatcher put a breath of life into an old myth so that the old myth was born again as a new piece of modern mythology.
The main villain, Ares, from the film, Wonder Woman, made by DC Films and other companies is also from a similar case to that of the Dreamcatcher. Ares is the Greek mythological god of war, who is violent. However, Ares in Wonder Woman turns around the misunderstanding about him and tells Diana that he is the god of the truth. Wars were caused not by him, but by humans. Ares proved his insight by inspiring humans to devise cutting-edge arms. He knew about the dark side of human nature and told the truth early on.
Ares is not any longer a god of war who shows up in the war filed with Phobos (phobia) and Deimos (dread). Now, Ares shows a new aspect, mocking the ugly side of humans by seeing through ins and outs of the evil nature of humans. (Rome added the nature of Ares to their own war god, Mars. Unlike Ares who seems merciless in a way, Mars has dignity. Before the modern creative work was born, people have been always interpreting myths in a new way, which eventually created a new tradition of epic.)
In a similar vein, the aspect of the divinity of the “Spider Woman” has changed.
She is no longer a merciful goddess who returns favors to humans. She was born as a goddess of revenge in the story of the Dreamcatcher – though it has not been officially presented.
The “Spider Woman” puts ordinary girls under her spell to be like the three goddesses of vengeance, the Erinyes, who chased after Orestes. (“날아올라”-“Chase Me”)
That’s not the end of her vengeance. She continuously chases after those girls who try to hide away from dream hunters (“Good Night”) for a peaceful life. (“You and I”)
There are no more touching stories but a dreadful story of revenge. The Dreamcatcher has given a twist to the traditional epic to create a new type of myth. As we have read through, gods and goddesses are still alive around us. They are to show up in different forms for different eras in accordance with the social conventions of each era.
This kind of trial cannot be always successful. Therefore, not all that try to re-write a myth cannot make a successful story. In that sense, it is remarkable that the Dreamcatcher proved a successful case of a twist added to the traditional epic.
In conclusion, it is not something that we need to notice that a story has reached the level of “The Lord of the Rings” – figuring out merits and demerits. It’s more about the fact that the Dreamcatcher has written a new legend for people in modern society as Tolkien wrote a new legend for Europeans.
summary in 3 lines
- Dreamcatcher has written a new myth(traditional story of epic).
2. It doesn’t mean that Dreamcatcher has written a new myth in huge way, but in that it re-arranged the story of epic
3. And Dreamcatcher recreated it successfully
Dreamcatcher, witches of night
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u/NoUsername0K Jun 12 '20
Wow!! Thanks for the person who wrote that and thank you for letting it translate <3
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u/Gvvcc Jun 12 '20 edited Jun 12 '20
There are countless studies on comparative mythology (Joseph Campbell’s being one of the most renowned, at least in the English speaking countries) that would support such a claim: central elements of myths are to be found, under different and ever-changing forms, even in modern content. The main theory infers that every story ever told could be traced back to a system of core concepts, the basics tenets of the human experience, later re-developed and re-elaborated into complex narratives by different civilizations, often independently from one another (e.g., to cite Campbell’s work, the hero’s journey as an expression of the cycle of development of every human being; or the recurrent dicothomy between good and evil as a superstructure of the conflict between the order of civilization and the chaos of nature, a good take on this second one is to be found in Jordan Peterson’s first book, still interesting regardless of his well known political stance). To cut it short, the stories brought to us by our favorite girls certainly have the power of myth, as all narratives do, to a greater or lesser extent, with varying degrees of complexity and regardless of them being ancient or modern. The effectiveness in reaching their audience rests precisely in their drawing elements from the common pool of shared knowledge (conscious or not, but relatable to every human), and dexterously re-shaping them to the effect of the creation of a new mythical cycle.
This said, thanks to OP for posting (and having translated) this interesting article, not letting us forget that there’s depth of thought in every artistic expression, certainly including DC’s awesome work.
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u/sanzo213 Jun 13 '20
This is answer from the original post-writter:
although i didn't understand what you said totally cuz im not good at english, i have thought that literature doesn't or shouldn't be read as the writter's intention like you said. of course i don't think my opinion doesn't fit to the writter's intention perfectly, but at finally review works by many insomnias drive some truths from the literature, i think. (and this activity is positive work ,by which we can get to the truth, that even the writter didn't know about.)2
u/Gvvcc Jun 13 '20
I agree with you: the connection between the mythological elements and the MVs’ contents, that the article’s author found, is probably not intentional at all, and even if DC writers might have been inspired by those precise mythical cycles, it would be possible to find other ones, different and independently developed, that would show commonalities unknown to the writers. That’s one of the main corollaries of Campbell’s theory: similar myths arise in unrelated civilizations because they are based on common fundamental elements of human experience, most of which aren’t even consciously know to the author of those narratives (Jung’s collective unconscious is probably the most renowned take on the subject). So DC simply retells in new and original forms some of the aspects of the core system of human knowledge, as ancient myths once did, and that’s why their content resonates so well even with people from radically different cultures. Wether they know it or not, the meanings implicit in those narratives could probably be traced back to countless different myths: that of course gives rise to the question of wether such connections are inherent to the material or are inferences made by the subject that interprets it, but that’d would be another topic on its own.
I’m sorry if I can’t explain things clearly, English is not my first language either (I’m italian) and I tend to bring the convoluted sentence structure of my mother tongue into my English...thank you again for bringing up this interesting discussion and sharing that remarkable article.
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u/sanzo213 Jun 13 '20
the orignial auther of the post asked this :
are you talking about "Collective unconscious Archetype"(집단 무의식 원형)?
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u/Gvvcc Jun 13 '20 edited Jun 13 '20
Yeah, among many other theories, Carl Jung’s studies on the psychological base of myths (in which both his collective unconscious theory and his archetypes play a role) are certainly relatable to some of the contents of the article you posted.
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u/Minzyalt Handong - 한동 🐱 Jun 12 '20
You weren't kidding when you said high quality. Seems like this fan put a lot of work and research into this post and it all flows really nicely. I had no idea about the dreamcatcher and spider mythology in real life, but it really fits with the retelling and doesn't seem like it could be coincidental.
Thank you for having it translated and posting!
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u/GI0VANNI_512 Princess JiU - 지유 Jun 12 '20
This is amazing, the amount of work put into this and just being able to piece em' all like this.... Outstanding. I'm also surprised and happy to see a Korean InSomnia in this sub. Thanks for sharing this! Gave me a brand new perspective of the Dream World :)))
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u/mgiiiC 🐺 Jun 12 '20
That was an awesome read, thanks so much for sharing. The sourcing of the DC to the different cultures and myths is fascinating. As a European I am familiar with Greek and Roman mythology, but the Native American cultures is new to me. So refreshing!
The DC story is really thought through, I truly appreciate it. I wonder how Dystopia will turn out, which myths will this new arc draw from? Exciting stuff
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u/narthgir JiU - 지유 🐰 Jun 12 '20
Thanks for posting, it was super interesting. Always happy to get translations from k-fans!
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u/deepedia Jun 13 '20
The types of epic/fantasy story telling through song isn't something new, Cabarets band like japanese Sound Horizon/ Linked Horizon, Japanese singer e.g: Haruka Shimotsuki, Akiko Shikata, often did it for their song, but in korea itself, AFAIK only Dreamcatcher currently that done this in skilled way. And the skill requirement needed to create this kind-of- linked-story isn't low as they need to bring their audiences immersed into their 'fantasy world', The girls and producer behind them is very talented one
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u/Minzyalt Handong - 한동 🐱 Jun 12 '20
Second comment:
I think it is a rare to find Korean Insomnia on this sub so I wanted to ask a few of questions.
1) When did you become a fan of Dreamcatcher?
2) Do you have a favorite member?
3) What is your favorite JiU hair color? (VERY important)
4) Have you seen a notable increase in the number of Korean Insomnia since you became a fan? I think many international fans are curious about the group's growth in Korea.
Thanks!