17-19세기 여성의 지칭어 변화 : 『단성호적대장』을 중심으로

Abstract

Pre-modern Korean society was marked by frustrated mobility in class and social position and rigid gender divisions. In this society there arose differentiated social forms of address based on social position and gender. This distinction was most prominently visible through the formal terms of address applied to married women. First names were used only in the private domain by women of pre-modern Korea (Joseon), and those of married women were not generally expressed in public. Among women who were not servants, members of the upper class had the designation ‘ssi’ (氏) affixed to their family names, while women of commoner status were referred to simply as ‘sosa’ (召史), a particular form of address with social class implications. Beginning in the mid 18th century there was an increase in the utilization of the ‘seong’ (姓), a term of address that was almost never used before that time. This represented a newly formed term of address for the middle classes. The most active period of changes in female terms of address was during the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. At this time changes in female terms of address was dynamic, but this did not necessarily involve upward movement. The same women often experienced downward mobility in terms of address, as well. This process was accompanied by quite chaotic fluctuation, as terms of address repeatedly ascended, descended, and re-ascended. In one way, this can be understood as a process in which men would first elevate a woman’s term of address before changing their own occupation in the registry. Women’s upward mobility was influenced rather by the husband or the patrilineal head of household to which the wife belonged. At times, through a process in which all members of a lineage would attempt an improvement of their collective class position, a woman’s term of address would even surpass the social position of her husband. Men endeavored to improve the social status of themselves and their families based on their improved socio-economic fortunes. This was achieved through a personal dimension, as well as through the efforts of a family lineage, but the more effective method may have been a collective effort through the magnified influence of a great number of kin and relatives in a single village. Through this processes, during the closing decades of the 19th century—at least among those reported in the census registry—the majority of upper class men recorded with the designation ‘yuhak’ (幼學), while a majority of women held the designation ssi. Also during this period, the lack of congruence between men’s occupations and women’s terms of address diminished greatly. At least, through women’s name designations, the desire of the lower classes for social mobility became a reality.