내방가사의 세계적 중요성과 가치

Abstract

This paper highlights the global importance of Naebang Gasa (“song of the inner rooms”; the inner rooms refer to the women’s quarters) and reviews its literary documentary value based on research results. Naebang Gasa illustrates the cultural transition from the Middle Ages to modern times. It is written entirely in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet system, which enabled women to become writers of a new form of records. The emergence of Hangeul as a national language and the rise of women as the writers of records were signs of the change from the Middle Ages to modernity. Naebang Gasa contains self-expression by alienated women and their reactions to society. It is particularly notable that in Andong, where Confucianist ideals had been strong since the Middle Ages, women themselves archived their own narratives in document form. Moreover, Naebang Gasa is also significant in that it vividly reveals women’s awareness and spirits in the age of transition. Naebang Gasa can be seen as an alternative means of recording by minority people who are absent from mainstream historical documents. In particular, it is meaningful as it involves the participation of many women creating a shared pool of literary works and recordings. These unique characteristics of memories and recordings allowed Naebang Gasa to become a record of communication, going beyond personal writings for women’s own satisfaction. Records as a means of communication facilitate entertainment and healing among peer groups and promote reconciliation and integration among groups made up of people in conflict. Naebang Gasa as a record is a critical piece of data that offers an invaluable opportunity to experience unique styles of handwriting by women from the past. Although letters are primarily a tool for delivering knowledge and expressing emotions, they also carry aesthetic value. For the writers of Naebang Gasa, writing and copying lyrics were aesthetic experiences by themselves. The scrolls of Naebang Gasa are also of significance. The scrolls themselves are an object of beauty. It is the scrolls that make the reading and writing of Naebang Gasa an act of art. In the history of human culture from around the world, records in the form of scrolls are very rare. In this respect, the conservation of the Naebang Gasa scrolls is crucial. This paper reviews the global importance of Naebang Gasa by looking into the writers and contents of records and its impact in terms of literary documentary culture. It is hoped that this study will contribute to helping people recognize the originality and significance of Naebang Gasa as a part of the world’s culture heritage.