Abstract
In modern Korean discourse, the Samguk yusa chronicle is considered a sacred histori-cal record of the Korean nation that defines its national and religious essence. It has al-ways been an important source for producing Korean histories and literature; its popular-ity reached a highpoint in the 1900s.
Today, the Samguk yusais still an important text that influences many aspects of Korean culture and society. Its contents have been rein-terpreted and presented in works of history and literature as well as in educational mate-rials such as textbooks, manhwa, films, and television programs.
The constant coding and recoding of the stories in the Samguk yusaover the centuries has led to manifold shifts in meaning--the result of adaptation, recontextualization, and simplification as the work has often been reduced to a certain selection of storiesfeaturing the same heroes and formu-laic narratives. In this paper, I explore how the traditions established in the Samguk yusahave been invented and reinvented and how the codes producing its social meaning have changed over time.
I focus mainly on the process of transcoding of the Samguk yusasto-ries and study it based on case studies and observations conducted in the fiel