Inseon YOO
| 2024, (95)
| pp.075~104
| number of Cited : 0
This study examines the narratives of treasonous families introduced in two Korean-language classical novels in the late Joseon dynasty Yangmun Chunguirok and Eomssi Hyomun Cheonghaengrok and investigates h ow th ese families, facing social exclusion, sought to establish alternative social orders. Both works focus on individuals burdened by the legacy of treason, as well as their descendants, illustrating their navigation of social stigmatization and isolation while striving to redefine their status in society and find new paths toward social reintegration. In Yangmun Chunguirok, Yang In-gwang, upon confronting his father’s treason, seeks to make atonement for the inherited crime by building up his own meritorious achievements. However, as his personal achievements grow, they paradoxically heighten the public’s awareness of his father’s treasonous past. In response, Yang petitions the emperor to remove both his and his father’s disgraced names from historical records, an act aimed at liberating his descendants from the burden of ancestral guilt and enabling them to start a new life. This gesture reflects a deliberate attempt to balance the stain of treason with merit, ultimately seeking to balance his marks of honorable achievements against his father’s guilt. By contrast, Eomssi Hyomun Cheonghaengrok depicts Eom Bong-mun, who, having been similarly isolated due to his father’s treason, pursues a different path. Eom devotes himself to atoning for his father’s crimes by founding the ‘Eomssi Uihyeop Jeokseondang (Eom Clan's Charity Hall)’ to assist the poor. His charitable endeavors not only reshape societal perceptions of his family but also serve as a critical turning point in the reintegration of the treasonous families into the broader social fabric. Eom’s conducts reflect a determined effort to restore his family’s honor while also demonstrating the potentiality of overcoming social isolation and achieving reconciliation with society. Both Yangmun Chunguirok and Eomssi Hyomun Cheonghaengrok depict treasonous families’ attempts to transcend social stigmatization and establish new social orders. These narratives reveal an underlying intention to provide new opportunities for marginalized individuals, addressing broader concerns with social exclusion and conflict in literature of the late Joseon period. This further underscores the characteristics of these novels as derivative works, deepening the themes and narratives previously unexplored in the preceding literary works on one hand, while highlighting the originality of both texts on the other.