조선시대 여성의 법적 활동과 법 감정으로서의 ‘원(寃)’: 김지수, 『정의의 감정들』, 너머북스, 2020

Abstract

This paper examines the recent Korean studies publication, “Emotions of Justice,” which has garnered significant attention in the domestic academic community. The book meticulously explores how women in the late Joseon period achieved their objectives by centering their legal activities around the emotion of injustice. Furthermore, it connects this emotion with the reinforcement of royal authority in Joseon society, investigating how justice was realized. Unlike previous analyses of this book from the perspectives of historians, Oriental philosophers, and legal scholars, this paper, from a classical literature scholar’s standpoint, delves into the author’s key concepts, such as the meaning of legal performance, the analysis of the ‘grief’ narrative, and the view of women as legal subjects. A notable point in the book is its conceptualization of grievance actions as legal performances. If a play is viewed as expressing a scripted message with spontaneous gestures in a formal setting, then a grievance act can indeed be seen as a theatrical performance. This concept gains significance when considering that it consists of both the script-like intentions and the performance-like protests. Moreover, the book expands on how a single performance bridges ‘individuals and society’ and establishes ‘institutions and culture,’ ultimately enhancing our understanding of the Joseon state. The author emphasizes the narrative of empathy in women’s grievances, suggesting that women effectively achieved their goals by presenting their pain as vulnerable and dependent entities. However, it is necessary to discuss nuances, such as whether the emotion of injustice can be hierarchically distinguished or separated from emotions like anger and pain, and whether the same empathetic narrative is also used in petitions by elite men to the king. Furthermore, there is a debate on whether the book overemphasizes the significance of women’s legal actions, possibly portraying lower-class women excessively as ‘agentive individuals.’ Lastly, despite being a historical study, the book extends the emotion theory commonly used in Korean classical novel analysis to the grievance literature genre in Chinese classics, offering insights for a more comprehensive view of late Joseon society. This point adds significant value to literary research as well.