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Aspects of the Experiences and Memories of Imjin[壬辰] War in Sino-Korean Poetry

  • Journal of Korean Literature
  • 2021, (44), pp.89-128
  • DOI : 10.52723/JKL.44.089
  • Publisher : The Society Of Korean Literature
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature
  • Received : September 30, 2021
  • Accepted : November 10, 2021
  • Published : November 30, 2021

Gu, Bon Hyeon 1

1동덕여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

War is the greatest disaster that includes death, separation, famine, and disease. Paradoxically, war becomes an important subject of literature because it ravages the mind and emotions of people. This paper aims to clarify that creating literary works is one of the efforts to cure the aftereffects of the war by examining the Sino-Korean poetry created by poets who experienced the Imjin[壬辰] War in person. Sino-Korean poetry containing the experiences and memories of the Imjin War is divided into three main categories. The first is to express the horrors of the war. These poems show the aspect of using the method of contrasting the immutable natural objects with the ruined human traces, and the method of reusing the expressions of the former works that dramatically visualized war experiences such as Dubo[杜甫]’s poems. The second category is the literary works that commemorate the dead and the victims of Imjin war. Although many are dedicated for military commanders and soldiers who have died after establishing distinguished war service, some poets commemorated the unknown soldiers, virtuous women, filial offsprings who sacrificed for their country and family. The third category is the literary works that contain the desire for getting back to normal life. In these works, there is a sense of security of survival, unfamiliarity with the new home and surrounding, which is different from the past, and anxious hopes for the future. The above three types of works can be understood in various ways to heal the pain caused by war. It is necessary to record the horrors of the war to avoid repeating the same tragedy in future generations, and to commemorate the victims of the war is an essential element for the maintenance and development of the community. The recognition that building a new base of life is at least a responsibility for the victims can also be seen as part of an effort to overcome the sadness of war.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.