표류와 군담,『太原誌』의 서사

Abstract

This article consists of the result of investigating the novel's characteristics as a maritime military novel. The prior research on Taewonji was mainly focused on the uniqueness of the composition where the main characters discover the land of Taewon through drifts and then become the emperor of the land, assuming it was reflecting the crack of the Chinese system in the late Joseon Dynasty. While focusing on the meaning of constructing an empire out in the ocean, there was a lack of understanding of the maritime narratives and the base of the novel. Thus, the characteristics or the subject of the novel could not be precisely defined. Under the awareness of such problems, the goal here was to create its “own seat” by taking into account the subject matter and composition of Taewonji. First of all, the discussion is focused on relating the drift materials of the first part of the novel to the drift narratives of the late Joseon Dynasty. The drift records, embodied from early East Asian narratives were monomorphic narratives, which later were seen with various aspects in the late Joseon Dynasty. However, Taewonji has been reborn as a feature-length maritime narrative by applying multiple drifting materials and using various pixels. This corresponds to a new phase of narrative literature in the late Joseon Dynasty in that it is the result of the accumulation of long experience of drift and knowledge of the ocean. Next, I tried to understand the process of conquering the Taewon world by Imseong and his party in terms of military narrative. The Taewon land they conquered has a strong aspect as a marine state. Therefore, it could be said that Taewonji has become a new type of maritime novel which combines drift and military narratives. Finally, it had to be discussed how to view the conquest of Taewon out in the ocean and the construction of a country. Taewon, constructed by the group of Imseong advocated royal politics which is seen as the author's ultimate goal. However, considering that none of the works of Joseon Dynasty had ever deviated from royal politics in reflecting the ideal political system, the conclusion could be different. In the end, the most specific piece that sought out an alternative world out in the ocean was Taewonji. This goes beyond the level of cracks or skepticism of the Chinese system. Moreover, there is no doubt that the maximum centrifugal force of world recognition of the people in the late Joseon was embodied in Taewonji.