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The refrain of Cheongsan-byeolgok, a Korean poem in the late Goryeo period, ‘얄리 얄리 얄라셩 얄라리 얄라’ might be the writing of five Mongolian sentences in the forms of the imperative of the second person and the voluntative of or with the verb yali-(‘to be in great quantity; to be of good quality’) and its subject še̱ng(‘a unit of measurement for volume’). The sentences demand or request something or someone for grains to be in great quantity(or to be of good quality), with the wish for a good harvest. The four feet meter in the refrain may supplement the stability to the poem. And as a sort of terminal modification, it may reinforce the feeling of finality of each stanzas. The sounds in the refrain serve the smooth, fluent, bright and refreshing feelings avoiding monotony. And the arrangement of the forms and sounds has some important functions and the effect of auditory harmony and so on. Although they are irrelevant to the meaning and emotion of the poem in Korean, the sentences might have been entered into the position of refrain as a sort of praise to king at the performance of Cheongsan-byeolgok in the royal palace. And the refrain has played an impressive role as the words of adding to the fun.

The motif of the same-sex marriage in Korean classical novels, which is often centered on marriages between women, can be said to be an incomplete marriage in that disguised woman and other women have a temporary marriage relationship. Same-sex marriages are often seen in the heroine novels and family novels, especially in the three works of Hongbaekwhachon, Bujangyangmunrok and Banghanlimjeon. Same-sex marriage motifs make up a large portion and play a significant role in these three works. The meaning of same-sex marriage in the three works can be summed up in three ways: First, the women of same-sex marriage, who are good-looking and has ability of 'pen' and 'sword' show their ability and subjectivity in pushing for marriage. Second, same-sex marriage plays a role in widening the narrative, increasing interest, but ultimately streamlining polygamy. However, in Banghanlimjeon, there is no male protagonist, so same-sex marriage is a mechanism that denies the union with men outside the patriarchal system. Third, the symbolism of the aenghyeol-a sign of chastity indirectly shows the ethical sensibility of readers by wiping out sexuality in the union of homosexuals. In terms of the degree of use of same-sex marriage materials and the initiative of the subject, the three works generally form a spectrum in the order of Hongbaekwhachon, Bujangyangmunrok and Banghanlimjeon.

This study aims to compare the characters of Jusaengjeon and Mujeong and discuss the relationship between the two works from the perspective of literary history. Jusaeng and Hyoungsik are similar in that they are socially alienated, have no will and ability to actively explore their alienated situation, interpret the world as they want, and act impulsively. These characteristics homogeneously led them to feel anxiety. However, their causes of the anxiety are somewhat different. Jusaeng is concerned with how to publicize and implement his decision, while Hyoungsik is worried if his choice is reasonable and worthy. Despite these differences, their worries and concerns commonly drive the lives of women in ruins. Baedo and Yeongchae both with tragic family history, became courtesans and eventually made self-destructive choices (reflexive violence) in front of the men who seemed to abandon themselves. Their self-destructive choice similarly has a significant influence on the mind and behavior of the male characters. In this sense, their story is not the ‘consequence’ of the tragedy. Their actions carry deep meaning throughout the works. From this fact, it can be said that they have ‘agency’. Seonwha and Seonhyoung are with higher social positions and intellectual levels than Baedo and Yeongchae. In spite of their advantageous status, the former group was jealous of the latter women. It is noticeable that while Seonhwa was driven by a strong desire for Jusaeng, Seonhyoung had little interest in Hyoungsik. This difference shapes the endings of these two novels. This comparison leads us to ask why the characters in these two works with a huge gap in time are so similar. The similar characters in these two works were inevitable products of the transitional, cataclysmic realities in which the artists lived. In this sense, the characters can be analyzed from the perspective of literary history. Yet, it is noticeable that the attitudes toward reality the male and female characters show are quite different. Their similarities and differences should not be simply considered to be originated from their premodernity or modernity. Therefore, more comparative studies on these two works are needed in the future.

This paper aims to investigate Yisaengsong’wŏllok(A Record for redressing Mr. Yi’s grievances) in comparison to a newly found manuscript, Yuyŏnchŏn Husŏ(Afterword to the Biography of Yuyŏn) included in Yuyŏnchŏn, held by Kyemyŏng University library. Yuyŏnchŏn Husŏ which has been known by its title without contents offers valuable information and insights into the understanding of Yuyŏnchŏn written by Yi Hangpok: first, the author of Yuyŏnchŏn which blames Yi Ji, Yu Yŏn’s brother- in-law, doubted the culpability of Yi Ji; second, the impersonator Chae Ŭngkyu was extremely successful in impersonating Yu Yu, Yu Yŏn’s elder brother, hence many people were bewildered by Chae’s fraud, which exculpates Yi Ji’s intentional framing of Yu Yŏn. Also, ‘Yuyŏnchŏn Husŏ’ allows specifying the year Yisaengsong’wŏllok was written, which is after 1609. Yisaengsong’wŏllok elaborates Yuyŏnchŏn Husŏ by focusing on the following points: Yu Yŏn himself once misrecognized Ch’ae Ŭngkyu as his own brother, which is silenced in Yuyŏnchŏn. These features imply that we need to take the historicity of literary texts more seriously rather than solely focus on aesthetic aspects of a given text.

This article reviewed Hong, Taeyu's Yuseorakgi, remarkable work of history travelogue to Mt. Seorak. Hong, Taeyu had been immersed in landscape sightseeing after a disaster to a family, toured Mt. Seorak in the fall of 1709, along with the cousin of Im, Jeok, and others. It seems that Hong Taeyu's sightseeing to Mt. Seorak was influenced by the literary men of Jangdong Kim's, such as Kim, Sujeung, and Kim, Changheup. As a result of the examination of Yuseorakgi, it was found that the following characteristics. First, the method of reconstructing the sightseeing utilized actively, the development of the work, had centered the sightseeing of Mt. Seorak. Also, it makes the process of sightseeing flow naturally without feeling disconnected. Second, various methods used in terms of description and narrative to effectively highlight the beauties of nature in Mt. Seorak. Third, there is apparent creative consciousness at the base of the work to inform the world of beauties of nature in Mt. Seorak in correspond to the features mentioned above. This Yuseorakgi has the following importance of the history of travelogue the Mt. Seorak. First, it is the work that participated in the process of creating Mt. Seorak's travelogue in one distinct flow. Second, it is the first systematical work to reveal the way of sightseeing and beauties of nature from Gokbaekdam[Baekdam Valley] to Bongjeongam.

Hwang Taek-hu[黃宅厚] is a poet from Gyeongajeon[京衙前] family who was active in the year of King Sukjong and Yeongjo in Joseon dynasty. As a young man, he kept companies with famous literary men such as Choi Chang-dae[崔昌大] and I Ha-gon[李夏坤], and also participated in the association of poetry, such as Seosa[西社]. Ever since becoming a petty official, he has been working in provinces by performing secretary of local jurisdiction all the time. Since he was from a family that had lived through the generations of Gyeongajeon, Hwang Taek-Hoo was able to receive education comparable to that of the nobility family from a young age, and through this, he was able to communicate with the poets of the nobility. Based on the ability of literacy and administration, it was possible for capital’s petty officials to obtain the recognition and support of the bureaucrats and civil officers and thus they could take the lead of the literary world on behalf of the medical officers and official interpreters. It seems that Cheongiron[天機論] and Jinsiron[眞詩論], which were raised around by Gim Chang-heup[金昌翕] and Hong Se-tae[洪世泰], who were one generation ahead of Hwang Taek-hu, became the ideological grounds for the activation of Wihang[委巷] literature. The influence of Cheongiron and Jinsiron appears in the literature of Choi Chang-dae and I Ha-gon who associated with Hwang Taek-hu, and is confirmed in the literature of Hwang Taek-hu. In particular, in the case of Yeongmul poetry[詠物詩] of Hwang Taek-hu, the tendency to awaken natural laws through observation of surrounding objects and attempt to use it as the basis for moral cultivation is well shown. In the effort to express the honest feelings and perceptions that are created in the encounter with things, we can confirm the characteristics that are aimed at real poetry. To restore the value of real poetry, it was emphasized that practice steadily on imitating classical style, this tendency is also seen in the literature of Hwang Taek-hu. On the other hand, in the literature of Hwang Taek-hu, there are no expressions of unpleasantness and discomfort that are cited as general characteristics of literature of middle class men. This seems to have originated from the social success of Hwang Taek-hu with the recognition of the high officials. Because of his activities in the outside, which occupy most of his life, he tended to consciously emphasize his willingness and vigor.

This study revisits the rhymes of Baek Seok's poem “Yeo-seung(女僧)” based on the concept of the meter of traditional poetry and examines the meaning of the poem realized in relation to the meter. Previous studies that looked at Baek Seok poetry in relation to traditional poetry forms were limited to either pointing out the phenomenal fact that the metrics were confirmed or analyzing rhythms based on unclear standards. Although Baek Seok’s Poem does not regulate the format of the whole poem with a single rhythmic model, it uses the meter of traditional poetry to create various meanings through the process of repetition and variation. “Yeo-seung” shows an interaction between meter and meaning. Each stanza of “Yeo-seung” is based on traditional rhythms, revealing the psychological changes of the poetic subject in various ways such as the introduction of rhythmic deviations and gaps, changes in meter, interruption of inertia, and the superposition of four feet. Moreover, the process of changing the meter in “Yeo-seung” shows the life of a woman who was forced to live as a human involved in memory and emotion even after leaving home in addition to the process of becoming a Buddhist nun. Consequently, “Yeo-seung” can be read as a work that embodies its poetic meaning by utilizing traditional poetry's meter in various ways.

Settaebigam is a manuscript gasa work expressed in a four-verse lyric style based on a story about Korean War situations that she experienced from the perspective of a refugee along with her own story. This study is intended to research the author’s life and ideas adhered to the field in detail in order to establish a new categorization of gasa by reviewing the literary characteristic of gasa created during Korean War. This study covers the theory of the work by categorize the contents into three paragraphs as the introduction of Settaebigam, which hasn’t been discussed so far other than the introduction of the work. The introduction part of the work arranges the details of Korean War in sequence and reproduces the reality of those days from the time after the liberation to the outbreak of the war and the Great Naktong Offensive. This is how the restoration of reality based on the official historical description was made possible. In the middle part, the author’s unfair emotion and distress due to prison life by treachery during the war are viewed, along with her efforts to forget her adversity in the unconscious world through dream. The work ends with her wish for the future in the desolate reality after being released from 1 year of imprisonment. Settaebigam embodies the historic facts derived from the author’s war experience and the escapism to overcome her own personal adversity through the literary imagination. It shares the characteristic of report literature with non-fiction and fiction mixed. Therefore, this study is intended for new categorization of gasa literature as a report gasa by highlighting the distinct characteristics of the period in the work created during the situation of Korean War.