The Formation of Narrative Inevitability: A Mechanism for Naturalizing Social Order through a Comparison of Korean and Japanese Folklore and Mythology

This study analyzes how folklore and myth function as narrative structures that foster the perception of historical choices as inevitable social order.In particular, focusing on the Dangun and Amaterasu myths, it compares the folk and mythological traditions of Korea and Japan, exploring their differing forms of legitimacy, embodying moral restoration and genealogical continuity.Based on structuralist mythology, narrative theory, and research in East Asian political thought, it examines the process by which mythical narratives conceal historical contingency and reinterpret power as necessity.It also argues that these narrative mechanisms of folklore and myth persist in a secularized form within contemporary political discourse.This study seeks to reposition folklore and myth not as remnants of the past but as structures of present-day perception, contributing to contemporary humanistic discussions on legitimacy, authority, and historical understanding.