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Journal Central

Chin-Tan Hakpo is a representative academic journal published in Korea during the Japanese colonial period. In academia, this journal has been primarily evaluated as a center for positivist history. However, recent studies have pointed to the diversity in the composition of the Chin-Tan Society and the scholarly nature of Chin-Tan Hakpo. This study examines the existence and manifestation of this diversity by analyzing the articles in the journal from a formal perspective, using a quantitative method. First, a digital corpus of 59 articles from Chin-Tan Hakpo was constructed in a database format, and six indicators were presented to identify diversity. These are: ‘chapter/section division,’ ‘article length,’ ‘data volume,’ ‘number of footnotes,’ ‘footnote length,’ and ‘average footnote length.’ Second, using these six indicators as features, the 59 articles were grouped into clusters of similar items. Eight clusters were obtained using the K-means method. Each cluster revealed distinct characteristics by reflecting the six features. Third, focusing on the larger and more distinct clusters, this study examined their relationship with major authors and the changes in their proportion over time. These clusters include the ‘concisefootnote academic article,’ the ‘detailed-footnote academic article,’ and the ‘concise contributed article.’ It appears that while various writing styles coexisted, these three types were representative of the writing styles of the period. Among them, the proportion of ‘detailed-footnote academic articles’ showed a significant increasing trend in the later period compared to the early period.

This article explores the methodology of collaborative digital text compilation for modern Korean documents by focusing on articles published in the first through 14th issues of the Korean humanities journal Chin-Tan Hakpo. For more precise data processing, we designed XML schema of Chin-Tan Hakpo considering the philological characteristics and the possibility of utilizing the data. Based on this schema, we constructed a text input framework using MediaWiki and input both original and modernized text data for 74 out of 85 articles published in Chin-Tan Hakpo. The text data input process revealed several challenges requiring further attention, including the need for XML schema refinement, establishment of standardized rules for modern text conversion, and improvement of input tool efficiency. We hope that the experiences and lessons learned from this Chin-Tan Hakpo text compilation project will contribute to finding digital text compilation methodologies suitable for modern Korean documents through future collaborative efforts among researchers.

This study analyzes references in early Korean linguistics articles from the 1930s Chin-Tan Hakpo, focusing on Yang Ju-dong and Yi Soong-Yeng, to explore the reception of foreign linguistic knowledge and features of early modern Korean linguistics under Japanese colonial rule. Yang Ju-dong adopted a philological approach, primarily in Hyangga studies, critically using Japanese scholarship and classical Korean texts, and direct Western theoretical influence was found to be limited. Conversely, Yi SoongYeng, influenced by Kobayashi Hideo, directly engaged with and applied contemporary Western theories like historical-comparative linguistics and structuralism to Korean language analysis, referencing original Western sources. The research therby identifies two main streams of knowledge adoption: Yang’s traditional philology and Yi’s proactive integration of Western theories. This highlights the diverse paths taken in establishing modern Korean linguistics during a restrictive era, reflecting efforts to develop Korean studies amidst challenging circumstances.