<女容國傳>과 <閨中七友爭論記>에 나타난 조선후기 규방문화의 특징과 의미

Abstract

In the late Joseon Dynasty period, women in Gyubang played a major role in the series of processes of creation and acceptance of classical novels. Representative works that densely dealt with the lives of women in those days may include <Yeoyonggukjeon(女容國傳)> and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi(閨中七友爭論記)>. Using women's living cultures, that is, make-up and sewing as materials, these two works personified tools to develop events and satirized the unreasonable social conditions in reality in allegorical ways. First, the stream of Gyubang culture in the late Joseon Dynasty period and the background of the creation of the works were examined. <Yeoyonggukjeon> and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi> were born in the late Joseon Dynasty period as women's desire for expression, which had been suppressed under the control of the majority of male aristocrats, appeared. The two works could be created under the influence of the Gyubang culture reflecting the experience of women on the basis of woman literature in the late Joseon Dynasty period, when prose spirit was spreading. The two streams of woman literature and Gyubang culture interacted so that <Yeoyonggukjeon> and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi> could be created. Second, the characteristics of Gyubang culture that appeared in <Yeoyonggukjeon> and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi> were examined. <Yeoyonggukjeon> is a story about women's faces and makeup, and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi> is a story about tools used in women's sewing. Three characteristics of Gyubang culture appeared in the two works. First, the two works enhanced the sense of reality by minutely expressing the processes of makeup and sewing. Next, the two works broke the existing conventional wisdom and showed changed views of womanhood and female consciousness. Finally, the two works scathingly satirized the problems and absurdity of the society in those days from the standpoint of women in allegorical ways. Third, the meanings of Gyubang culture that appeared in <Yeoyonggukjeon> and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi> were examined. Women in the late Joseon Dynasty period created and developed literature based on their own Gyubang culture. The empirical attitudes based on the spirit of Silhak and the intense writing spirit greatly affected Gyubang culture. <Yeoyonggukjeon> and <Gyujungchirujaengnongi> are the essence of the Gyubang culture that reflected the changing female consciousness.