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Park Kyung-ri’s 「Pyoryudo」(1959) is a problematic text that asks a woman if love can be elevating and a salvation. Park Kyung-ri captures the gentler political nature of social reconstruction through the love of female intellectuals of the liberation generation. The love of a war-weary woman who gave birth to an illegitimate child and its narrative of frustration will have to be identified in the stream of Zander’s history, in which the time of female self-reliance, leading to the colonial “new woman”, the liberation period’s “no”, and the post-war “apré girl”, are readjusted. From 1953, when the Korean War ended and the Korean criminal law took effect, until 1960, before the military coup took place, various social problems arose, including the rise of a war-ravaged population, the instability of livelihood, agitation of the traditional order, the spread of American culture, and a flood of crime and corruption. The nation’s response to such a precarious and unstable society was the politics of an abnormal thing or an unwritten one that invented a non-people based on the vague criteria of sexual promiscuity. The targets of state power were mostly women outside of their normal families.

This paper aims to examine how polygyny in southern Africa has existed in the context of historical trajectory and labor migration. Through it all, the study tried to argue that, despite socioeconomic changes, polygyny will not easily disappear, because of cultural inertia and practical necessity. The points discussed in the paper can be summarized as follows. First, the general perception that polygyny prevailed in traditional southern African societies is close to a myth. Second, polygyny and sexual practices in the area manifest different aspects according to each group’s existential conditions and the agent’s socioeconomic background. Third, large-scale labor migration starting from the late 19th century resulted in the fissure of the traditional family and community structures. Fourth, the economic recession in South Africa that began in the 1970s has endangered the survival of polygyny more and more. Fifth, despite such a situation, most South African people want the institution to survive. Finally, men and women obtain different symbolic meanings from polygynous marriage.

The film 「Volver」 tells the story of three generations of women, the fate of the grandmother, mother, and daughter, inseparable from each other, who survive a fierce battle against a given poor environment. It also includes the daily lives of women who have to face various difficulties, but always we can witness a strong and friendly heroine, motherhood, and women’s solidarity and hope. They are not subject to passive subjugation under the patriarchal system, and can confirm that they are independent, modern women, who solve all problems according to their will. On the other hand, the men in the film are described as unforgivable human beings who consistently betray and are deceitful, dealing only with the women who relate to them. In the end, men are subject to murder by women in this film, and in view of the need to destroy or sever the established order between sexes, the goal of radical feminism, the main female role of killing men in the film gains special significance. After all, it can be seen in the film that all male main figures are those who have been defeated or marginalized in their relationships with women, especially in gender politics.

Along with warfare to regain territory in the 13–14th centuries, an effort was made to integrate the Arabic culture of Al-Andalus into Christian areas. Rather than inculcating the Christian ideology or morality, Don Juan Manuel’s Count Lucanor conveys the popular and worldly human affairs of southern Spain, where the worlds of Islam and Christianity coexisted. This study aims to grasp the objective of the narrative in light of the Christian values and Islamic views on marriage, focusing on one of the 51 short stories in the collection: the story of a defiant and disobedient woman, and her husband who tries to tame her. This study also aims to shed light on the patriarchal fantasy of dominance over women, by applying Bakhtin’s principle of polyphony to the analysis of the narrative structure of Count Lucanor, which exhibits the characteristics of oral narratives that were popular in the Arabic world.

The Kawaii aesthetics of Japanese girl culture is the source of visual images of Japanese manga, animation, and games. Understanding the core image and essence of Japanese girl culture, the accurate understanding of Korean kidult consumption and retro consumption is possible. The key element in the aesthetics of Kawaii girl’s culture in Japan is fanciness – the quality of being fancy. It is decorativeness that realizes fantasy. The symbols and images that Japanese girl culture mobilizes for the decoration of real daily life are not Japanese, but Western. Victorian style, Art Nouveau, and Disney were exclusively inherited in the history of Japanese girl culture. The Kawaii aesthetics is full of Western images. Japanese appropriation of the West in girl culture shows the change of East–West dynamics, and the interpenetration between cultures through the meaning of decorativeness, and fanciness itself.

First adopted as the royal heraldry of France in the middle of the 12th century, the fleur de lis has for a long time become not only identified with the French Royal House, but also with France itself. Nevertheless, the documents and studies on it were scarce and poor. This is because since the French Revolution, the symbol has been a politically sensitive subject, the fleur de lis being so strongly associated with the monarchy that revolutionaries erased and destroyed it on many time-honoured works of architecture and art. This paper aims to illuminate the meanings of the fleur de lis for French royal heraldry, which has been unnoticed by researchers, because it could not be fairly interpreted, and to restore its academic value. According to Michel Pastoureau, a French professor of medieval history, with heraldry serving as cultural code for interpreting contemporary society, it is very significant to examine the meanings of the fleur de lis as French heraldry. I demonstrate when the fleur de lis began exactly as an official emblem in France, and how its shapes and meanings have changed from the historical context, based on the king’s seals, contemporary coins, and history books copied in medieval times. Then I examine how the honor of Mary in the 12th century changed Mary’s status in Western Christianity, and how it affected the color of French royal heraldry as represented in façades and stained glass windows in Gothic cathedrals. After tracking the historical background of the decline of heraldry in France starting with Ancien Régime, I investigate why the researches on heraldry are still important even today, and which direction they are heading in the future.

This thesis started from a curiosity about how, out of the female poets in the Tang Dynasty, Xue Tao could leave the greatest amount of poems. In order to find the answer, the self-images shown in Xue Tao’s work were analysed, after judging that her establishment of self-awareness and self-identity as a woman of letters might be the driving force of her creative endeavour. In research scope, this study mainly targeted 「Shi li shi」 out of her works within 4–5 years after she started her social life as a singing gisaeng. 「Shi li shi」 shows a total of ten kinds of images that metaphorically express Xue Tao herself. Xue Tao proved her innocence and defended herself to get a pardon, which was the motivation and purpose for creating this poem. For this, she aimed to move the opponents’ mind by highlighting her value, and also revealing her clear perception of reality, in which she was in the subordinate position in the power relation between master and servant. For this, Xue Tao created the self-images based on her self-awareness, and then strategically organized the relation between subject and object of punishment, and the means and ends of the case, into a metaphorical structure. In this way, the establishment of self-awareness and identity of Xue Tao was greatly influenced by Jiannanxichuanzhen, to which she belonged. The civil official-centered members of Jiannanxichuanzhen and the organizational culture of ‘civil administration’ had influences on the establishment of self-awareness and identity of Xue Tao as a woman of letters.

This article chose a novel that deals with “mass suicide”, a subject that is bound to be uncomfortable for both mainland Japanese and native Okinawans. Among them, the mainland writers, like Ikuo Yamashita, Ryuzo Saki, and Ayako Sono, will be focused on with their works, to see how they differ from Okinawa writers’ expressions, and an in-depth look taken at the complex perceptions of mainlanders intertwined over the ‘mass suicide’ by referencing Reportage, as well as the progress of the ‘Okinawa Trial of mass suicide’ by Kenzaburo Oe, who represented conscientious intellectuals in mainland Japan, and by Ayako Sono, a far-rightist who came from the same mainland, but who showed stark differences in perception. It will point out the absence of the ‘Chosun Army’ and the ‘People of Chosun’, who were absent in the novel by Ayako Sono, but obviously were around at that time, along with the Japanese Army and Okinawans that appear in novels by Okinawan writer Ikuo Yamashita. It will then critically lay out the non-logic of the right wing, which has locked the post-war Okinawa issue, symbolized by “mass suicide”, within the framework of the military’s order, the framework of abuse and damage, and created a confrontation between mainland Japan and Okinawa.

In this paper, the theme that we would like to deal with from the perspective of comparative literature is related to the question of humanity, which is supposed to be raised through the following three works: Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky, 1984 by Orwell, and The Plague by Camus. To address this question, we would like to put a special focus on the mathematical formulae that appear in common in these three works. In Notes, while 2×2=4 refers to a constructing principle of the ideal society represented by the Crystal Palace, 2×2=5 symbolizes the curse on this society, i.e., a kind of speech act that is based on man’s desire to deconstruct. In 1984, the addition 2+2=4 stands for the human spirit resisting the totalitarian ideology that imposes the formula 2+2=5. In The Plague, 2+2=4 is a truth that should be considered simply ordinary, as soon as determined as such. In Notes, the human is a being that delays the realization of a goal or destroys the goal, in order to reassign historicity to the process of life. In 1984, the human is described as a spiritual being who persistently refuses to surrender, even though he or she ends up in failure. In The Plague, the human that has determined 2+2=4 is a being faithful to this determination. To conclude, in those three works, the human is viewed in common as a being who is engaged in an endless process of historical order. In other words, he or she is nothing but an infinitely finite being who is committed to endlessly rewriting his or her own history.

This article identifies some common coincidences and misunderstandings that are often introduced in the comic evolution of situations from the perspective of the traditional comedy plot, where natural laws cease to be applied. It also examines key technical developments in the history of Russian comedy by analyzing Vampilov’s one-act play. The comedy, where the natural law of logic is temporary invalid, embraces such tools as puns, characters’ features, and comedical composition of the plot. The most commonly used technique in comedical composition of the plot is the development of comedy situations and events resulting from confusion (misunderstanding) or coincidences. Russian satirical literature is based on works (primarily, grotesque tragicomedy plays) by certain classical writers in the 19th century, such as Griboedov, Ostrovsky, Gogol, and Saltykov-Shchedrin. The main conflict in the 19th century is clarified in the grotesque tragicomedy, as comedy and tragedy often cross their lines. The Russian social satire adds grotesque tragicomedy to the traditional techniques of comedy plot, like coincidence and misunderstanding. Vampilov, who set the trend of the ‘new drama’ in the 1970s, revives traditional comedy by inheriting the tragicomedy grotesque satire of Gogol, based on the traditional techniques of coincidence and misunderstanding. One of Vampilov’s works, which can be said to be outstanding instances of coincidence and misunderstanding, is the <Provincial Anecdotes>, which contains two plays <An Incident with a Paginator>, and <20 minutes with an Angel>. The <Provincial Anecdotes> combines different stories, which took place in the “Taiga” hotel in a small town. According to Vampilov, two stories, which are based on coincidences, misunderstandings, and farce, are defined as a genre of “two tragic scenes”, despite their comic elements. According to the results of analysis of stage scenes and a one-act play, Vampilov’s plays turned out to be pieces of farce comedy that embraced unimaginable episodes based on the comedy of coincidence and misunderstanding frequently used by Gogol and Chekhov. Vampilov’s composition of the plot based on coincidence and misunderstanding continues the tradition of the 19th century Russian literature style, with the combination of tragicomedy and grotesque specificity.

This study is especially focused on the vocabulary that describe emotion and analyzes the aspect of translation when emotional expressions of ‘Kai(快)ㆍ喜(Ki)’ are shown on 「Kokoro」. It focuses on <Meaning> <Structure> to analyze the aspects of translation that were restructured by translators. The vocabulary that described the emotion of ‘Kai(快)ㆍ喜(Ki)’ in Japanese sentences was mostly translated into the corresponding parts of speech in Korean. Some words that expressed ‘Kai(快)ㆍ喜(Ki)’ were translated to ‘nouns ⇨ nouns, adjectives’ ‘adjectives ⇨ adjective, verbs’ and ‘verbs ⇨ adjective, verbs’. Some adverbs needed to add ‘verbs’ when they were translated. Also, different vocabulary was added or used to maximize emotion. However, the correspondence of a part of speech in English was different from that in Korean. The examples of Japanese sentences that expressed ‘Kai(快)ㆍ喜(Ki)’ by verbs were translated to the expression of participles for passive verbs, such as ‘please’ and ‘amuse’ in many cases. In Korean translations, types of emotion, such as feeling mentally and physically comfortable, and getting out of the state of ‘fear’, were shown besides types of emotional expressions of ‘Type of Joy’, and ‘Type of Love’. In English translations, types of emotion, such as feeling mentally and physically comfortable, achievement, and getting out of the state of ‘fear’, ‘sadness’, or ‘anger’ were shown besides types of emotional expressions of ‘Type of Joy’ and ‘Type of Love’. The main agents of emotion were shown in the first person and the third person in simple sentences. The translation of emotional expressions when the main agent was the first person showed that the fundamental word order of Japanese was translated as it was in Korean. However, the English translations showed examples that had the cause of emotion or expressions of emotion as the subject of sentences to make the owners of emotion realize something or judge something objectively, as well as speakers directly expressing their emotional states.

The organization of Chongryon in 1955 is the period of a new branch point for the movement of Korean residents in Japan and the change of racial education. Based on North Korean awareness and direct connection as overseas citizen, the physical and ideological base of organizational and systematic racial education was prepared, the educational system was reorganized, and the ‘Chosun School’ started to embody and express racial identity as security for certain directivity. This thesis considered the reappearance aspect of the ‘Chosun School’ in the period of the Chongryon organization period that appeared in the literature of Korean residents in Japan, by focusing on long novels showing the realities of racial education under the background of the Chosun School right after the Chongryon organization in 1995, 『Bombi』 of Park, Jong-sang and 『Seogok』 of Ryang, U-jik, in consideration of significances and differentiations of the Chongryon organization. In two works, under the same subject of the school establishment project, sacrifice, and the challenge of racial education that are not tired, love for students and practical education activities are formed in multiple angles. Also, due to the continual hindrance of the enemies of ‘mindan’, the planned education projects often failed. In the depressed situation, because of the organizational union of teaching staff and regional people around the school and educational supporting funds delivered from North Korea, the hopeful situation that was achieved facing the assignment, the school establishment project, is jointly displayed. This thesis examines the correlations between the Chongryon organization and racial education, certain narrative structure of ‘Chosun School’ treating the period, the hardship and struggle of Korean residents in Japan around racial education, and the history of overcoming by considering the intensively joint subjects of two novels, prototypicality of people, tendency of accidents, etc.

This paper examines the early Islamic dynasty of the Maghreb through the analysis of the term “Berber”, and it further explores the Andalusian culture and the Ronda Taifa kingdom of the Iberian Peninsula. So far there has been no research conducted on the Berber tribe of the ‘Banu Ifran’. By investigating the ‘Banu Ifran’ tribe, this study inquires of the characteristics of the early Maghreb Islamic dynasty, as well as the Ronda Taifa kingdom, which they built in the Iberian Peninsula. The focus on ‘Banu Ifran’ and ‘Berber’ tribes has significance in the reconstruction of the historical process of Maghreb Islam and Andalusian culture. Studying the ‘Banu Ifran’ tribe shows that the relationship between the supplier and recipient of the Mediterranean area had a structure of circular exchange, rather than reciprocal exchange. Although the study is only based on historical facts, it helps to re-examine the identity being displayed today in the Maghreb region from various angles, which is also important as part of the expansion of the Andalusian culture. There is a scarcity of study of the Andalusian culture in Algeria, compared to that of in Morocco. Hence, this paper plays an important role in adding to the existing literature about Andalusian culture, and it seems that ongoing research is necessary.

This study aims to investigate how native English speakers and Korean learners of English interpret English verb phrase telicity, focusing on the telicity tests of English. Seventy Korean learners and twelve native speakers participated in this study. Experimental tasks were conducted for both native speakers and Korean learners (beginner and advanced). The results of this study showed how Korean learners and native speakers differentiate among English verb phrase telicity according to the telicity tests, and indicated that the actual (behavioral) interpretations of telicity are meaningfully influenced by the different types of telicity tests for Korean English learners. In particular, Korean learners who are in the beginner group had more difficulty in acquiring English verb phrase telicity by ‘in-for test’ and ‘aspectual interpretation task’. Also, the result showed how native speakers interpret English verb phrases depending on the type of telicity test. Discussion of the findings is compared to those of relevant studies for pedagogical implications and the directions of further studies.