@article{ART003270316},
author={Hyangnam Kim},
title={The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok},
journal={Korean Language & Literature},
issn={1229-1730},
year={2025},
number={131},
pages={61-79}
TY - JOUR
AU - Hyangnam Kim
TI - The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok
JO - Korean Language & Literature
PY - 2025
VL - null
IS - 131
PB - Korean Language & Literature
SP - 61
EP - 79
SN - 1229-1730
AB - This study examines Jagirok, the autobiographical record of Cho of the Pungyang clan (1772-1815), a woman from a military yangban family in late Joseon Korea. After the death of her husband, she struggled with the Confucian demand of widow suicide but ultimately chose survival, naming her continued life a “stolen life” (tusaeng, 偸生). This choice, initially burdened with guilt, was later ethically justified through filial duties toward her parents-in-law, responsibility for her natal family, and the preservation of her household. By interpreting this narrative through the philosophical concepts of Spinoza’s conatus, Hobbes’s right of self-preservation, and Newton’s law of inertia, this paper argues that Jagirok should not be read merely as a record of grief or resistance to patriarchal norms, but as an active text that constructs the ethics of self-preservation. Cho’s writing demonstrates a rare case of a Joseon woman who transformed survival into an ethical practice, reconstituting the meaning of life amidst loss. Ultimately, Jagirok reveals not only the lived reality of women in late Joseon but also the universal human will to endure and to reconfigure existence through writing.
KW - Jagirok;Self-Preservation;Conatus;Women’s Autobiographical Writing;Ethics of Survival
DO -
UR -
ER -
Hyangnam Kim. (2025). The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok. Korean Language & Literature, 131, 61-79.
Hyangnam Kim. 2025, "The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok", Korean Language & Literature, no.131, pp.61-79.
Hyangnam Kim "The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok" Korean Language & Literature 131 pp.61-79 (2025) : 61.
Hyangnam Kim. The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok. 2025; 131 : 61-79.
Hyangnam Kim. "The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok" Korean Language & Literature no.131(2025) : 61-79.
Hyangnam Kim. The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok. Korean Language & Literature, 131, 61-79.
Hyangnam Kim. The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok. Korean Language & Literature. 2025; 131 61-79.
Hyangnam Kim. The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok. 2025; 131 : 61-79.
Hyangnam Kim. "The Author’s Inner Self and the Ethics of Self-Preservation in Jagirok" Korean Language & Literature no.131(2025) : 61-79.
