未亡人 (미망인) literally means "still not (未) dead (亡) person (人)," but my dictionary defines it as "a widow" or "a widowed lady." It also gives the example 전쟁 미망인, which it defines as "a war widow." What bothers me about the definition is that the word literally means "undead (未亡) person (人)," not "undead (未亡) wife (妻)." The Chinese character for "wife" is 妻 (처), so why wasn't it used instead of 人 (인), which means "people"? Besides, doesn't 과부 (寡婦) already mean "widow"?
I have not really researched the word 미망인 (未亡人), but it seems like a better definition than "widow" would be "survivor," which could include anyone still living, man or woman. If 미망인 were translated as "survivor, then 전쟁 미망인 would mean "war (전쟁) survivors (미망인)," referring to people who did not die in the war. Anyway, I have a feeling that sometime in the distant past the word 미망인 was mistranslated.
The word 미망인 was used during the time when man had higher rights/regard than women, where wife were often considered as, and I quote, 'property' of their husband. The word 미망인 originated with the meaning, 'someone who did not follow her husband when he died' so therefore 'person who is still not dead'.
ReplyDeleteFor what it may be worth, as you know 과부 literally means, "a married lady who is lacking [her better half]," whereas, as you say, the 미망인 is the "one who is not yet dead." This indicates the cultural expectation (hope? ideal?) that a woman should follow her husband in death. This is, of course, unless she has some more pressing duty, like taking care of aged parents-in-law. This cultural expectation can be seen in the activities that could result in a 'woman of virtue 열녀' getting a commemorative plaque erected ('열녀비') along with an honorary gate ('열녀문') to allow all to see the virtue of the woman and hold her up as an example for society. There are books laying out the stories of 열녀 and 효자 who were thus honored, including the traditional 삼강행실도 and 속삼강행실도, as well as more modern works that list the stories attached to 열녀비/효자비 that were erected. The main activities that could win a lady these honors were (1) choosing to follow the husband in death, (2) sacrificing a body part such as blood or a thigh, etc., to feed her husband or in-laws in times of starvation, (3) committing suicide rather face defilement and other kinds of self-sacrificing actions. Who knows about the accuracy of it, but the common understanding today is that a widow was regarded as being a "서방 잡아먹은 년," so she fully deserved and, if she had any sense of shame or conscience, would naturally choose to follow him in death.
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