@article{ART003270843},
author={KIM SO EUN},
title={An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”},
journal={Journal of Korean Literature},
issn={1598-2076},
year={2025},
number={52},
pages={93-120}
TY - JOUR
AU - KIM SO EUN
TI - An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”
JO - Journal of Korean Literature
PY - 2025
VL - null
IS - 52
PB - The Society Of Korean Literature
SP - 93
EP - 120
SN - 1598-2076
AB - The main objective of this paper is to offer a new ecological reading of “Nokŏn” by Yi Kŏnch’ang.
In “Nokŏn,” the deer functions not only as the narrative subject but also as a symbolic figure whose voice and image are central to the text’s implication. Traditionally depicted as peaceful, benign, and associated with longevity, the deer in late Chosŏn reality occupied a vulnerable position as a persistently hunted species. By the nineteenth century, Yi Kŏnch’ang, along with Yi Yuwŏn, Kim Yunsik, and Kwŏk Chongsŏk, had each produced works reflecting on the cruelty of deer hunting―likely informed by the gradual decline in deer populations and the pressures of the antler tribute system.
The ecological significance of “Nokŏn” emerges in two major aspects. First, the text foregrounds the deer as the narrative subject, thereby challenging the conventional human-animal hierarchy―a strategy also found in modern ecological literature, prefigured in Pak Chi-wŏn’s “Hojil.” Unlike the reprimanding tiger in “Hojil,” “Nokŏn” recasts this figure as a healing deer, using its gentleness to expose human violence and to prompt ethical self-reflection. Second, through the deer’s diagnosis of Yi-ja, the work highlights human-nature interdependence and proposes the possibility of healing through coexistence. Yi-ja’s shift from yŏllok(hunting deer) to pangnok(releasing deer) marks a transition from exploitation to relational symbiosis.
KW - Yi Kŏnch’ang;Nokŏn;deer hunting;nokyong;ecology;Hojil;Ecological interdependence
DO -
UR -
ER -
KIM SO EUN. (2025). An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”. Journal of Korean Literature, 52, 93-120.
KIM SO EUN. 2025, "An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”", Journal of Korean Literature, no.52, pp.93-120.
KIM SO EUN "An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”" Journal of Korean Literature 52 pp.93-120 (2025) : 93.
KIM SO EUN. An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”. 2025; 52 : 93-120.
KIM SO EUN. "An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”" Journal of Korean Literature no.52(2025) : 93-120.
KIM SO EUN. An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”. Journal of Korean Literature, 52, 93-120.
KIM SO EUN. An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”. Journal of Korean Literature. 2025; 52 93-120.
KIM SO EUN. An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”. 2025; 52 : 93-120.
KIM SO EUN. "An Ecological Reading of Yi Kŏnch’ang’s “Nokŏn”" Journal of Korean Literature no.52(2025) : 93-120.
