기녀가사妓女歌辭의 내면의식과 태도고찰 - 「찬(撰)영(海營)명긔(名妓)명션이라」를 중심으로

Abstract

Of various literary genres that prevailed in Joseon Dynasty, the full-length narrative gasa took as its subject matters the almost entire gamut of human affairs ranging from nature, to society, history, geography and travel. Frequently dubbed a contradictory figure, the courtesan, with its number and role, accounted for an unignorable portion of Joseon society. Although courtesans made superior contributions in cultural disciplines such as music, dance, and literature, there exist no significant amount of materials treating them that should invite academic research. Therefore, it was previously inevitable that any in-depth study on a courtesan’s life in relation to her text would be only insufficiently done. The horizon was broadened for the research in this area, however, as Jeong Byeong-seol published I Am A Gisaeng: Reading Sosurok, a study of full-length narrative gasa by courtesans as literary works. This thesis examines the inner consciousness and outlook on life of Myeongseon, the writer of Chan haeyeong myeonggi myeongsheon ira (“Written by Myeongseon, famed courtesan of Haeyeong”) included in the book. The study finds in the category of inner consciousness the human awareness, the heaven-obeying sentiment, self-respect, undisguised desire, and the extreme longing and han (‘sorrowful regrets’), and in the category of outlook on life lamentation of the times, self-derision, the extraordinary, and uprightness. The work, presumably written in mid-19th Century, is impressive enough to change some of the unfounded preconceptions of Joseon period. Particularly the inner consciousness and outlook demonstrated by the writer who not just belonged to a lowly social class but was also a woman as well as a courtesan are significantly different from those perched in our common understanding. Moreover, since this work turns out to have had lively exchange with the historical genres of the preceding literature and can thereby help determine the writer's intellectual level, it should be of value in studying the contemporary women writers. Key words : full-length ginyŏ narrative gasa, Sosurok(소수록), human awareness, heaven-obeying sentiment, love-lorn heartbreak, sporadic heartbreak, self-respect, lamentation of the times, self-derision, the extraordinary, uprightness.