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<Chasabonpulyi> is the shaman myth that tells about movements of a death envoy, Ganglim to the other world. Ganglim's travel to the other world is a journey to an unfamiliar world as well as an exploration to his inner self. The character types that change along the path of the travel show his transformation as a death envoy and process of his self identification. As Ganglim travels the other world shows itself and the boundaries of different worlds become distinct. As special rituals are carried out at each boundary, entrance to the other world is gradually open. Ganlim's travel makes the other world into a known world and internalizes the space from the view point of this world. Ganglim's travel to the other world represents the human determination to cross the boundary set between this world and the other world in oder to communicate. The traveller Ganglim realizes the image of the unified world. The characters that transform during the journey represent the process of self-identification in the battle between the fear of death and aspiration for life. The epic of Ganglim is the story that tells how he identifies himself and transforms. It is the story of crossing the boundary of human world to become a god.

It has been more than twenty years since interracially married female immigrants started to be noticed in Korea. Now it is no longer possible to stick to the image of an immigrant woman merely as a "bride" who got just married and needs to learn the new Korean culture which she has not been accustomed to yet and all the new roles which she as a bride is required to follow. In this light, this paper introduces folktales to those immigrants as Korean culture particularly related to the role of 'mother' in Korean family has been deeply embedded in folktales. Through the introduction, the paper helps the immigrant women understand and be familiarized with the Korean culture and the Korean family relationship. Female immigrants who married Korean men are able to build their life plan in a more independent way once they have financial capability. Also, folktales help such immigrants learn how Korean women have worked and struggled to survive in a Korean traditional society. This learning process is of importance as it may make them and their family have a satisfactory life. In addition, folktales will be passed from one generation to another as immigrant women with high Korean competence will pass what they have been told to their descendants.

The purpose of this study was to examine the aspects of lamentation in Honggeulsori in an attempt to shed light on this song's female consciousness - identity as a daughter, a sense of dependence, memory from childhood, a sense of alienation and self-consciousness(pursuing getting out of unhappy life). It's ultimately meant to define the self-exploratory attitude of this song and its meaning. This song's repeated lamentation was rooted in lack of emotional communication with parents. That resulted from the young commoner of the lower classes' unwanted marriage under the patriarchal system (being separated from her mother and going to the strange husband's home). She was emotionally dependent on her mother in childhood, and the incident of marriage forced her to undergo isolation and cutoff. She got to have a sense of alienation in the isolated space, and she got to have a strong self-consciousness and eventually wanted to get out of such a tough reality at the same time. Honggeulsori repeatedly described and reinforced the words of lamentation and thereby represented that she should pursue her own real life and overcome the reality. This song urged her to lead her own life by emphasizing her lamentation. This song's female consciousness could be defined as a self-exploratory attitude, and this self-exploratory attitude could be said as self-awakening of what she should pursue in her life and shows her desire for healing and self-recovery.

This thesis is studied about the Chinese poetry written by Kwan-Po(灌圃) Eo Deuk Kang(魚得江), especially remarked its space revealing the sense of self. Yi Hwang indicated that his humanity was selfless, humorous, and he loved nature. Also He stated that his poem was pure without any secular dirt. Besides, he published his poems and he is responsible for that. In fact, Eo Deuk Kang was innocent intellectual who is as like as mountain color. He retured his holl(笏) which symbolized a government post and tried to take pleasure which is in accord with the nature. However, he couldn't escape from earthly existence, he compromised his ideal space ‘Dowon’ in mundane world. Dowon is peaceful space where secular and unworldly desires are mixed up. Furthermore, Eo Deuk Kang created an space of freedom from desire by using ‘Kwan-Po-Dang(灌圃堂)’ In this place, He tried to get undisturbed main agent. From now on, It is a task that examine Eo Deuk Kang‘s overall chinese poetry and identify his aesthetic features.

This paper is to examine what Tak-yeong Kim Yilson ordinarily pursued by examining a ‘cuckoo(杜鵑)’ and a ‘qín(琴)’ appearing in his poetic literature, and to estimate which meaning such an examination has in understanding Tak-yeong. For the result, it could be confirmed that a 'cuckoo' was Tak-yeong's own sympathy toward King Danjong(端宗) and that a cuckoo symbolizes the medium relating King Danjong as a lord and Tak-yeong as a retainer. At the same time, Tak-yeong recognizes a cuckoo as the incarnation of Danjong, or occasionally as Tak-yeong's own advocate, so that he redounds to the symboli느 of loyalty and righteousness. Also, it could be confirmed that qín appearing in his literature took the special meaning since its production process, that Tak-yeong pursued Yáo-Shùn’s(堯舜) peaceful reign by qín, and that qín symbolizes asceticism within his understanding of the fact that qín(geum; 琴) and jìn(geum; 禁) have the same sino-korean pronunciation. These were derived from the spirit of ‘contemporary without and tradition within(外今內古)’ which Tak-yeong ordinarily pursued, and the spirit was conclusively expressed as his will to realize justice in political reality by including Jo-ui-jemun(「弔義帝文」) of his teacher Kim Jongjik(金宗直) in Sacho(史草). However, such his audacity faced many obstacles in reality, and was wept away into the disaster of Mu-o-sahwa(戊午士禍). This paper, though its boundary is limited into a cuckoo and a qín, attempts to attach the meaning into peeping the cross section of the literary pieces by Tak-yeong who had to finish his short 35-year life in the middle of those events. Indeed, it could be newly perceived that Tak-yeong's literature was not plain literature and that his literature should not be evaluated by the amount of his literary pieces. While a lot of papers previously published were mostly written from historical perspectives, there were few examining Tak-yeong’s literary value and literary identity through his literature pieces. The meaning of this paper can be found here.

The critical mind of this writing has arisen from the interest on the actual material conditions of Kyubang Gasa. While past research-historical results on <Sa Chin Ga> are rough, I realized there are plenty of materials that can be included in discussion. So, in this writing I assorted a series of material covered as <Sa Chin Ga> for titles, reviewed the object materials (works in Chapter 2), and then studied by subdividing the distinctive aspect of <Sa Chin Ga> (works in Chapter 3). Through examining the material condition of <Sa Chin Ga>, I found there were many products in two types as ‘self-grief type’ and ‘monthly description type’ and also existed products in the variation of this kind. On the basis of the result, I reviewed the distinctive aspect of <Sa Chin Ga>. <Sa Chin Ga> regularizes the theme of ‘missing parents’ that has been treated attendantly, and shows distinctive embodiment method that is differentiated by types. It is meanful from the standpoint that the <Sa Chin Ga> is enjoyed as a type of ‘same title–different products’ based on continuous homesick and each products intensify the base of continuous homesick.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of the false hero in the Korean narratives including folktales and classic novels. In the folktales, the false hero deceives the hero out of honor which is to rescue the princess out of the cave. As the result of the deception, the return of the hero is delayed and the story has to get a second start. But in the novel like Shimchung-jeon, the false hero makes the hero a laughable man. In the Chunhyang-jeon, the false hero has the function of the opponent. So the hero has to rescue his lover who was sent to jail. His quest is the same as the hero of the folktale. The return of Odysseus, the story scenes are very similar to those of Chunhyang-jeon. It looks exactly the same story in different cultures is the universality of the human mind.

Written in the mid-19th century, Yukmidanggi presents the foreign land of China as a place for a rite of passage that enables the protagonist to grow into a mature and successful man. It is also a place that ensures freedom for the women whom he meets and marries throughout his journey. The story’s setting changes from the Silla Dynasty to China and back to Silla in the end. Unlike most classical Korean novels, in which foreigners are ostracized or sacrificed, this story is special in that it portraits the protagonist’s foreign existence as a cause for him to be protected, accepted and assisted to recover his self-reliance. The logic of this narrative reflects an idea that must have been prevalent among the people of the time: that a nice person who is earnestly devoted to his parents is bound to be fortunate and that even a throne can be bestowed to such a person. The protagonist’s blindness and foreign existence seem to express the author’s own feeling of alienation, which is soothed in the story by the protagonist’s successful journey through the foreign land and his sincere courtship and union with the women from the country.

This study focuses on how the narrative of the villainous character, Im Yu-rin, draws novelistic interest in Seonghyeongongsukryeolgi. First of all, Im Yu-rin is described as an ordinary human being who pursues his realistic desire. He appears as a character who receives two different glances of hostility and sympathy from the readers. Im Yu-rin is accepted by the readers as an ordinary person, providing narrative reality to add fresh new interest. The narrative structure of the evil deeds, hardship and disenchantment of Im Yu-rin lets the readers to embrace moral messages in a fresh and impressive way, with the frequent use of analysis code of cognitive development. It is particularly noticeable that the repeated narration about deviation of pressure and correction in the description of events. This realizes the pleasure principle to offer a stimulative and provocative pleasure to readers.

Because it gave a lot of weight to Taoistic elements compared to other novels in Korean, <Youngirok> has been classified as a Taoism novel, thus has been recognized as a unique work among novels in Korean. Focusing and concentrating on the Taoistic elements that <Youngirok> contains meant much in clarifying the unique characteristic of the work, on the other hand, tended to lead us to be less concerned about discovering the interests in realistic issues that the work shows. Taoistic elements that <Youngirok> contains and uses must have given readers pleasure by raising the level of fun and amusement. But instead of seeing the reason for the wide adoption of Taoistic elements as just for fun or interest in Taoism, I tried to reconsider the characteristics of <Youngirok> on a premise that a new interpretation can be possible if we view it with attention to its relation to the original work. Focusing on the fact that <Youngirok> is a parody work about So-Woon-Sung, a broad-minded and outspoken character from <SoSsiSamDaeRok> and it pays attention to what happens between brother(sister)-in-law thus satirizes and raises objection, I could understand that its adoption of Taoistic elements is a satire on the custom that compares So-Woon-Sung to a Taoist hermit in <SoSsiSamDaeRok>, and it also can be seen as a romantic search for solution problems. And this research found that the thing on which <Youngirok> pays ultimate attention is the subtle conflicts between family members that is very routine and realistic and caused by the differences between their extrinsic circumstances. The Taoistic elements that <Youngirok> actively adopts can be found meaningful as a means or technique which increases the fun of the novel and leads readers to enjoy itself. But in the process of telling the characteristics of this work, the perspective that sees the Taoistic elements which function as a factor for amusement or fun as the representing factor for the whole work needs to be adjusted. Thus, this research acknowledges the value of the factor for fun that <Youngirok> has as a popular novel, and also pays attention to the fact that this work focused on very realistic problems and pointed them out, and tried to show its own solution, so that we can reconsider its characteristics with balanced interpretation.

This study aims to examine the marriage of a woman of foreign origin and its significance in the feature-length story in Korean Language, LimSsiSamDaeRok. Widely read from the early stage of its kind, the LimSsiSamdaerok describes the marriage between Mongolian woman and Han Chinese, and their life in detail. It calls for a scholarly attention as it reveals an aspect in perception on foreigners in the feature-length story in Korean Language. The marriage in the LimSsiSamDaeRok consists of three stages. First, the Mongolian princess Bukwon met a Han Chinese man from Ming dynasty. Second, Bukwon came to Ming as a hostage after Mongol was defeated by Ming. Lastly, she failed to adapt and became an outsider. In this process, the Han Chinese and the Mongolian partially amended their fixed ideas regarding each other. The LimSsiSamDaeRok represents both antagonistic and positive attitudes towards the foreign woman. The wedding process was hierarchical and the foreign woman was not able to adapt to the Han culture. However, in the positive note the woman was given the chance to speak and was deemed courageous although they applied the norms of Ming. As seen here, the marriage in the LimSsiSamdaerok promotes the superiority of Han Chinese and in effect the loyalty to the country. At the same time it reminds of the issues embedded in the Han Chinese. Reflecting the national issue beyond the apparent description of romance, the marriage in this story is note worthy as it represents multifold perspective towards foreigners.

This paper, focused on the violent situations seen between the upper class woman characters in <WanWolHoeMaengYeon>, tries to clarify the causes of the violence while analyzing the psychological conflicts between the parties involved. Also, in parallel with the extraction of the viewpoint of the narrator within the literary work, this paper works on the investigation of what was it that enabled the creation of such violent woman characters in the last Joseon period when they are impossible to accept. As a result, we can find out the narrative motivation with which the narrator was able to create such violent woman characters from the attempt, with the help from the genre of novel, at leading the reader to taste the pleasure of turning over the very contemporary ideology, though temporarily, in which people only recognized women as subordinate existence within families. However, on the other hand, the narrator of <WanWolHoeMaengYeon> also revealed limitations in that she should maintain an attitude that was thoroughly subject to the ruling ideology at that time at least in the measure to dispose of the violent woman characters as even the creation of such violent woman characters could be taken as a violation of the ideology at that time.

Yangkisonjeon, remaining anonymous, is a novel which is estimated to have been distributed in the late 19th century or the early 20th century. Researchers have found five different kinds of its manuscripts. The past research have focused on a special feature of Yangkisonjeon related to the conflict between wife and concubine, regarding it as a "family novel(家庭小說)". In a typical family novel, the main conflict arises out of the tension between wife and concubine, or stepmother and her stepson/stepdaughter. However, in Yangkisonjeon, such conflicts do not exist anywhere even though those characters all appear in this novel. Thus, the previous studies have concentrated on this strange feature; 'conflictlessness'. Certainly, if the novel is missing a distinctive feature and the feature seems to be very probable in the genre, one needs to consider the reason of its omission. However, expecting conflicts simply according to the appearance of wife and concubine represents the current researcher's interests or attitudes. Rather, it is suspected that the author of Yangkisonjeon is not interested in any kinds of conflicts at the outset. As a result of scrutinizing Yangkisonjeon, it is proved that the work's main concern is the embodiment of the main character, Yang-Kison. Defined as a "dissolute" person at the very first part of the novel, Yang-Kison has left his wife and children in extreme poverty giving himself up to indulgence in concubine. Characterization of Yang-Kison in this novel reminds of representative dilettante(閑良) male characters of late Chosun dynasty novel, such as characters from Kewoosa(戒友詞) or Leechunpungjeon(李春風傳). Both born rich, Kewoosa's Musuk and Leechunpungjeon's Lee-Chunpung have squandered all of family's property on the house of Gisaeng(妓房), putting aside of their wife and children. They also show similiarities that they both clean up their prodigal life with a great support of wife or concubine. Here, we can find the proper methodology of analyzing Yangkisonjeon: not simply classifying it as a family novel, but as a novel whose main character is a dilettante. Therefore, comparing Yangkisonjeon with other novels dealing with dilettante male characters can explain the reason of 'conflictlessness' in this novel. Novels dealing with dilettante male characters tend to be without conflict caused by wife and concubine. Also, in this kinds of novels, main characters show no mercies or interests to their wives and children. In this context, Yangkisonjeon can be understood more deeply. Moreover, focusing on its own variation of such novels will expand and deepen the meaning of Yangkisonjeon. The late Chosun entertainment culture has been developed rapidly with Seoul or Pyongyang as the center. It is monumental in the cultural history that the main agent of late Chosun entertainment culture is not a high class(兩班), but a middle class people(中人). This is also related to whether a new possibility of changing culture could arise during the late 19c Chosun dynasty, which was declining, suggesting an alternative: diversion from high class driven cultures to the middle class driven cultures. Late Chosun novels pay attention to the dilettante male character, because a dilettante is the very person who has experienced the alternative culture. Destiny of the dilettante male character is closely related to that of late Chosun culture. The dilettante shows negative aspects, but he is at least energetic at some point because he squanders all his money and life only for his sensual pleasure. His energy, if converted, can be functioned positively, providing a new vitality. For example, Kewoosa's Musuk and Leechunpungjeon's Lee-Chunpung were in the middle of consumptive culture, the house of Gisaeng(妓房), but they finally get to the self-reflection which drives them to the total conversion in a good way. Yang-Kison succeeds Musuk and Lee-Chunpung as a dilettante character, so his final decision attracts attention, as well as how entertainment culture works in his life and the novel. However, Yang-Kison's decision is rather disappointing. Entertainment culture does not have any influence on his life. The story ends up with his return to home, only depending on the patriarchal prestige. Different from Musuk and Lee-Chunpung, his entertainment narrative has never allowed him a chance to reflect himself. Always has been full of his own desire, he remains irresponsible and selfish after all. Yangkisonjeon loses its narrative tension as the image of the dilettante character results in self-deception. The potential power of the new character in the late Chosun, a dilettante character, has been blocked in Yangkisonjeon's era, and it is relevant to the fact that this novel is written and distributed in the declining era of the classic novel.