KJC Korea
Journal Central

This study was attempted to examine the image of fathers, who are usually a major characters in Korean full-length novels yet relatively less highlighted than mothers, with emphasis on a Korean full-length novel titled Walwolhoemaengyeon. The process of preparation for offspring’s wedding was the scene selected to unravel and focus on the characters of fathers, not husbands or men. In Walwolhoemaengyeon, the images of fathers shown through the process of preparation for offspring’s wedding include a father who is disappointed by intended exclusion by his family (Jung, Jam), a father who forces his faith regardless of the offspring’s opinion (Jung, Sam), a father who loses his mind due to his love toward the offspring (Jung, Yeom), a father who intends to fulfill his deficits through the wedding (Jang, Heon), and a father who is helpless between love toward offspring and respect for his stepmother (Han, Je Sun). These images expressed in the process of preparation for offspring’s wedding display the paternal love with various complicated conditions to suggest or seek the ideal image of a public father, rather than a personal father. Next, the wedding of offspring is a rite of passage to ‘become a father.’ In this process, they can prove their qualities as fathers and achieve growth as fathers. Finally, the paternal authority that is relatively firm in all other situations cracks to expose the true characters of fathers with no tailoring. The fathers in Walwolhoemaengyeon are the new quilts of memories created by the upper class women based on their memories of fathers or husbands and their wishes for the ideal images of fathers in the process of creating and enjoying the Korean full-length novels.

This study examines the traces of the loss of paternal rights in the late Choseon dynasty (especially Saseolsijo, Gasa) and its cultural meanings. In recent years, ‘fathers’ have emerged as an important icon in cultural discourse as much as women, but the research interest in classical poetry is one-sided. Paternal authority is generally used to refer to the male dominance of a woman and includes both the domestic discourse “father / husband” and the national and social discourse “King/the law of the father”. The concept and meaning of ‘father’ were different according to the times, but in the traditional society, these distinctions were rather mutually compatible and recognized rather than distinct. In the concept and category of these rights, we can see traces of loss of paternal rights in devoted characters, rebellious sons, the loving father, the subject who feels the weight of reality, and the regretful fathers. Generally, deviating characters are the ‘wives’ who commit adultery or the daughter-in-law who are lazy and eloquent. They tend to think the absence of the ‘an able body man’ seriously as the symbol of the loss of masculinity, and abandon the fathers/husbands. The rebellious subjects are mainly minorities, and they also produced ‘the father of pleasure’ on the spot by shaking the powerful father. In addition, they had to confront realistic problems of household management with the loss of paternal rights. The loss of paternal rights caused by ‘pain/sickness’ was also linked to the self-consciousness of the father-in-law and shows the sentiment of regret. The traces of this loss of paternal rights show the duality of ‘escaping from the father’ and ‘rushing toward him’, raising the huge aesthetical problem of resistance, desire, and modernity in the culture of the late Choseon Dynasty. Particularly, the latter shows a desire for the recovery of the paternal rights which put the escaping subjects from the father into the system and it appears in the manner in which the third person admonishes, the way the subject experiences internalizing and disciplining of the “Father’s Law”, and the dogmatic manner of admonishing the marrying daughter. Considering that ‘the father’ is a cultural component, and is a meaningful entity that brings humanity from the natural life of survival into the human life of culture and shows a constant network with society, it is meaningful to examine the trace of the loss of paternal rights. This is because it is the basis for revealing the transforming cultural history of the present day besides how the family is collapsing. It is also linked to the process of restoring the lost father and seeking a new father figure.

Seo Gi-won, who made his debut as a writer in 1956, is categorized as a post-war new-generation novelist. Yet, different from his contemporary post-war authors, he has been assessed that he intended to observe and recognize space and Sachlichkeit(卽物) sincerely. When one sincerely observes real space and Sachlichkeit in the overwhelming ruins of the war, where it will lead one to? This paper aims at finding an answer of this question through the specific aspects of the life of the young people in Seo Gi-won’s early novels, that is, the youth’s solidarity, relationship with fathers and the main young characters’ desire ‘to become fathers’. ‘The absence of a father’ and solidarity among the young are often found in the modern and contemporary literature. However, the community formed by the young men in Seo Gi-won’s novel is unique in that it is based on passive commonness rather than on an active sense of solidarity. This community is grounded on the commonness as abandoned beings prior to any beliefs or genders. The male youth as deserted beings dream about love with females and ‘a normal family’. However, to them, love is not the discovery and acceptance of otherness, but a normative behavior to generate social relationships they have not had. Therefore, the community they have formed also collapses easily. The community of the youth in Seo Gi-won’s novel depicts no friendship or love, but rather the empty reality where all of them are absent. All the young people in the novel dreaming of love with females and a normal family hope to become fathers. Yet, in the work, it is difficult to find their fathers. Specific aspects of their fathers are not highlighted, and they are not strongly denied or affirmed. Instead of investigating into their absent fathers, the young men overlap themselves and their fathers’ symbols. They easily approve their fathers just because they resemble them, and settle their relationship with their fathers. The problem is that the fact that their fathers are someone who look like them does not guarantee to reveal their truth. They conclude their relationship with their fathers without working hard, such as rationalization of intense denial or affirmation, but as a result, their fathers still remain incomprehensible. At a glance, these young men seem to be able to achieve an ordinary life without difficulties. However, they can never obtain what they want easily. Even though they force themselves to restore their relationship with their fathers, they do not know what their fathers were like. Although they expect love with women and their own babies, they only come to face unfamiliar women and children without or not knowing their fathers, which they cannot understand with their gender sensitivity. The desire of the young men in Seo Gi-won’s novel to become a father is a kind of ‘fort-da’ game. According to Zizek’s interpretation, these young men’s desire is the overwhelming anxiety about the existence of fathers. They repeat the dilemma of failing to find a fixed father, but being unable to leave nor being with a father. They long to become a father, yet, at the same time, do not want to be a father. This paradoxical desire shows that a father is anxiety making one uncomfortable limitlessly, and that one cannot break free from it whether through a behavior to deny it or affirm it. That is, the morals of Seo Gi-won’s early novels do not lie in their hope to take responsibility for women or become a father, and therefore, to recover so-called healthy identity as men. The exposure of the instability in the desire circuit stuck between the desire to become a father and that not to become one, this outlook that seems somewhat gloomy, is the very limit and simultaneously ethics of Seo Gi-won’s early novels.

According to Freud’s family romance, the generation of the sons on the national level denied the generation of their father and formed a new society in solidarity with their brothers. However, due to the peculiarity of the colonies, the situation of Joseon changed from that of the French Revolution. Simhun depicts his father’s generation, which is positive in “Jiknyeoseong” not to be denied. And the reason for the fall of son, the foolish modern man. On the other hand, the daughters who have been metaphorized in the world of the father are separated from the family in the situation where the father and the son are in the same collapse. After that, daughters meet orphans and socialists. They actively cooperate to build a new society based on sharing and division of labor together.

This paper examines the speaker’s consciousness projected at Chinese poetry, which was included in the true record literature written by Korean prisoners during Jeong-yu-jae-ran. For this purpose, I divided into three periods according to the change of time and space, and I observed the change of the speaker’s consciousness in the poems written in each period. The object of examining was confined to the poems included in the literature of diary type, because it was thought that the memory of the speaker was refracted the least in the poems included in the true record. The poems, which were written from the time before and after becoming captive until the arrival at the Japanese settlement, were only recorded by some people. Among them, the poems of Gang-hang minimized the private sentiments and anguish and distinctly expressed a moderation that endured the situation in a disinterested attitude. The poems that were written by Jeong-Hee-deuk and Jeong-Ho-in during the eruption were filled with anxiety about the future, resentment, and regret about nature that did not help them. Among the poems that were composed in Japan, No-In’s poetry represented the consciousness that he wanted to be loyal to the king and take revenge on Japan after returning home. When Gang-Hang was detained in Japan, he always brought his loyalty to the fore of the poems. Nonetheless, he anticipated that his past would invoke dispute in the future, so he revealed thought that he would live in seclusion after returning home. Jeong-Gyeong-deuk’s family regarded only the return as the supreme task. Their poetry showed solely yearning for parents and home. Among the poems that were written during the process of returning home, No-In’s poetry had a profound reflection of worries and anxieties about his parents and brothers. Gang-Hang clearly expressed infinite deep gratitude for loyal favor he received during the captivity and revealed the loyalty and fidelity to the king. Jeong-Gyeong-Deuk and his group were deprived of means of transit for six months in Daema-do(Tsushima in Japan) during the return journey. As a result, the poetry was deeply immersed in irritability and despair. In particular, they personified the consciousness of the displaced by the bird crying at night. Through the results of this study, I could understand the life and consciousness of the captive from more diverse angles. This study has a clear significance in that it has a different perspective and value that it has examined the consciousness of prisoners not only by a prose, such as a letter, or conversation but also by poetry in the literature of diary type.

<KYUMUNSUJIYEOHAENGJIDO(閨門須知女行之圖)> is a playbook that was passed by Queen Inhyeon to her beloved sister, Mrs. Min, when she was dethroned, became an ordinary citizen, and stayed at a private residence. Unlike <SEUNGKYEONGDO(陞卿圖)>, which is a playbook mainly about males under the theme of public positions, the theme of <KYUMUNSUJIYEOHAENGJIDO> is based on the deeds of women in the Joseon Dynasty period. Mrs. Min was the one who married Lee Janghwi(李長輝), and the version of <KYUMUNSUJIYEOHAENGJIDO> still in existence is the one copied by a great-great-grandchild, Lee Ok(李鈺)of Mrs. Min. <KYUMUNSUJIYEOHAENGJIDO> is roughly constructed with four parts; the first part is for the farthest line from the playboard, which is filled with evil women and evil deeds. The second part is for the second farthest line, which describes appropriate behaviors for women. The third is the third farthest line, which states the names and deeds of 32 outstanding women in 7 columns x 5 rows. The fourth part is called ‘TAEIM(太任)’, locating at the highest line. It is where this play ends and it is with a description, ‘holy married women’. <KYUMUNSUJIYEOHAENGJIDO> is started with ‘SA(肆), WI(僞), JAE(才), JAENG(行), GYEONG(敬), and SUNG(誠), at the center of the bottom line. From this, it is possible to assume that this game is supposed to be played with a dice (YUNMOK 輪木). On each space of the board, the place to go is described. While playing this game, players of this game can learn about appropriate and inappropriate deeds for women as well as women worthy of respect and who are not.

This article analyzes the plot of Kim-hyun Gamho[金現感虎] written by Il-yeon[一然] and reveals its narrative character and interprets it in relation to the lives of women in the 12th century. Il-yeon writes the story of Kim-hyun and the reveals his own evaluation of the two stories, and honors the woman whom Kim-hyun met with. I consider the two stories and the whole evaluation as a plot of Kim-hyun Gamho. So in this study, I compare the story of Kim-hyun and the woman and the story of the Shin-dojing and the woman with each of the Howon[虎願] and Shin-dojing, and analyze Il-yeon’s evaluation of the stories at the same time. After juxtaposing the two stories, Il-yeon regards the wife of Shin-dojing as a traitor and the wife of Kim-hyun as a religious person who wants to make a sacrifice for herself and to build a temple. And Il-yeon regards Kim-hyun as a faithful religious figure. By the way, Il-yeon evaluates the act of a woman with focusing on sacrifice for family rather than love with Kim-hyun. As a result of this plot of sacrifice for man, plus a plot of a woman sacrificing for the family, Kim-hyun Gamho has a gendered plot with enhanced patriarchal character. It is a very interesting text from the point of view of epic. Because it shows a scene where two plots dealing with the love of a human/man and a tiger/woman compete and shows a scene where aejeongjeongi[愛情傳奇] turns into a Buddhist narrative. Through this, we can see one example of the transition of the narrative around the 12th century.

This study investigated the aspects and causes of the alienation for individuals in groups. Especially, it concentrated on aspects of the alienation of an individual from family in Samdaerok of Korean full-length novels. Since these novels pursue the promotion, prosperity, and persistence of families, they tend to put a group above an individual. In addition, since a group shared moral ideologies, pursuits, and beliefs, there was an atmosphere of emphasizing and forcing them to its members. These aspects of the alienation of individuals subtly appeared when daughters-in-law were ignorant, obscene, or eating a lot. Norms, ideologies, and attitudes emphasizing unity such as killing nephews for family’s safety, advising a member of a family not to live separately and hoping not to own private property were also shown in those novels. These seem to be influences of moral ideology that pursues suppression of appetite and sexual desire. In addition, these seem to be affected by pursuits that emphasizing loyalty, filial piety and fidelity and a way of thinking that prioritizes family. These ways of thinking operated as systemic violence because they existed as culture within a group.

This paper focuses on the garden as the material and place of creation as a way to understand An-bing-mong-yu-rok. I examined the recognition of the grandfathers of the garden and the description and garden of Shin Kwang-han. Through this, I tried to clarify the influence of the garden culture of the present day on the creation of the work. For the sadaebu(士大夫), The garden was a tool for connecting gyeogmulchiji(格物致知) to sugichiin(修己治人) by watching the landscape and cultivating flowers. And it was a space of self-discipline through nature. Considering the period of creation of An-bing-mong-yu-rok, garden of An-bing-mong- yu-rok is based on Shin Kwang-han’s ‘gijae(企齋)’. Shin Kwang-han(申光漢) did not take emotions into the objects of the garden. Therefore, he realized the truth of nature. This aspect has been applied to An- bing-mong-yu-rok. He used object’s own personality and objective information and embodied his life in An-bing-mong-yu-rok in a way that reveals his identity. As An-bing-mong-yu-rok is aimed at a harmonious appearance without conflicts in everyday space, there is no conflict with the world that was accomplished in the previous novel or sharp consciousness of the writer. This character of An-bing-mong-yu-rok shows a discrepancy between the nature of genre and the thematic orientation. Nevertheless, it is a clear indication of the characteristics of 16th century fictional novels that promote interest. Understanding An-bing-mong-yu-rok through the garden culture of the Choseon Dynasty clearly shows the aspect of the writer Shin Kwang-han, and way to reconstruct the literary historical location of An-bing-mong-yu-rok as a 16th century novel.

The purpose of this study is to understand the principles of series of Yanmunrok novels in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the possibility of JongGalYangmunrok and HwangGyeongYangmunrok. Yangmunrok novels have a tangible feature that the narrative of the first half and the narrative of the latter are combined based on marriage story. Geumhyangjeonggi and Namgangweol correspond to the first half of the Yangmunrok narrative. I confirmed the seriality through this. The seriality of Yangmunrok novels shows that the basis of its existence is solid. On the other hand, from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, it is time to transform the traditional storybooks focused on the novels into the modernist booksellers focused on the novels. This means changes in the readership. Booksellers tried to capture readers by utilizing the seriality of Yangmunrok novels.