Abstract ▼ AI-Helper

Mongyurok is one of genres of Korean classics. This type of literature includes empty dreams with a story pattern of reality-dream-reality. About twenty volumes of Mongyurok existing in our country were written from mid-16th century to the 19th century when the Korean Dynasty started to reinvent its...

Mongyurok is one of genres of Korean classics. This type of literature includes empty dreams with a story pattern of reality-dream-reality. About twenty volumes of Mongyurok existing in our country were written from mid-16th century to the 19th century when the Korean Dynasty started to reinvent itself by opening door to foreign influences and by abandoning deep-rooted feudalism after the Kang Hwa Do Treaty (1876) and the works were exclusive in the history of literature. Many of them were mainly written in mid-Joseon Dynasty which was after the Ching- Korean war in Byungja year (1636) and the Japan- Korean war broken in Imjin year (1592-1598) and the 19th-century. When we take a look at the fact that Mongyurok was mainly written at the socially confusing and unstable times, it can be said that writers created this type of literature by their needs to reflect and criticize the absurd reality of that time's society with a wide range by using a story pattern of empty dreams. The Japan-Korean war and the Ching-Korean war have significant influence on history of Korean literature. Korean underwent the Japan-Korean war for 7 years by Japan's invasion in the 16th century. 40 years later Koreans experienced again the Ching-Korean war by Ching's invasion. As a result, Korean peninsula was devastated, social system and fundamental principles were collapsed, and feudalism was also fallen down. Based on the pains what they felt with when they underwent big wars, Koreans felt incompetence and hypocrisy of the ruling classes who didn't function at their work. And as time went by those feelings were appeared as a part of literature. Mongyurok novels, set in the Japan-Korean war and the Ching-Korean war, found causes in internal conflicts rather than in scars by foreign powers' invasions, accused then ruling classes of their incompetence and corruption, criticized social system's contrarieties and problems and, demanded those reformed. The novels recognized social problems and presented new points of view on them. The research has focused on reality recognitions appeared in Mongyurok novels set in war times. In this research, we analyzed types of characters in the existing Mongyurok novels, studied changes in characters' view points, and also studied what writers intended in the novels to find out changes in reality recognition of characters while experiencing wars. As a result, there are characters with traditional view points when they recognize the reality and also there are ones who have new points of view which were achieved during wars. Mongyurok novels, which were previously dealing with collapses of traditional ideological and personal dreams, provided writers view points on then social problems and pointed out then contradictory phenomenon by presenting characters with new thoughts on the reality among characters with traditional view points. The research took a look at changes in then Koreans' view points and recognition of reality and social changes at that time through the novel. This kind of study should be continued more broadly in connection with other genres of literatures.

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