동주 이민구 유배시 연구

Abstract

This essay investigates the poems of exile written by Dongju Yi Min-Gu, who was a descendant of the Chosun royal family and Neo-Confucian scholar-official. He was not immersed in the typical emotions such as agony, resentment, and self-pity of literature of exile; instead, he proceeded to a more creative dimension of poetry: First, Yi’s poems of exile suggest a perspective of a scholar-official on the East-Asian politics during the Ming-Qing Transition. Without surrendering to the hegemonic power of real politics, Yi continued regarding Ming as the center of East-Asian civilization. On the contrary, he defined Qing as barbarian since it took hold of hegemony by means of military power. Second, Yi revealed his incessant faith toward the Divine Other in his poems of exile while dealing with the theme of season and weather. Thus he transcended negative emotions which even great writers of East-Asian classical literature had not overcome. And he, as a man of character and integrity, never gave up his own life in the midst of heartbreaking sufferings. Third, Yi academically interacted with young scholars in the regions of his exile, where used to fall behind other regions in terms of culture and education, and pursued mutual growth. He did not underestimate the value of a prospective scholar on the basis of his background. Trusting the infinite potential of a scholar-in-being, he rather exhorted them to learn fervently and to never give up. In sum, Dongju Yi Min-Gu accomplished an everlasting poetry, not confined within stereotypes of literature of exile.