생태인문학적 관점에서 보는 강과 문화에 대한 이해: 조선인들의 낙동강 인식을 중심으로

Abstract

This study reinterprets perceptions of the Nakdong River found in Joseon-period texts from an eco-humanities perspective, viewing the river not as a passive natural backdrop but as a material agent that coexists and interacts with humans. Drawing on New Materialism—an influential framework in contemporary eco-humanities and posthumanism—the research analyzes the material–ecological assemblages formed by water, terrain, living organisms, and human technologies. Focusing on the river’s flow, sedimentation, water-quality changes, ecological dynamics, and its literary representations by Joseon scholars, the study examines the Nakdong River’s agency, human–nonhuman entanglements, and the affective materiality that emerges from these interactions. The findings reveal that the river functions as an active agent that shapes both environmental conditions and human cultural thought, rather than merely a resource subject to human control. This analysis highlights the convergence between Eastern traditions of harmonious human–nature relations and contemporary new materialist thought, offering a new theoretical foundation for reinterpreting and preserving the ecological and cultural value of the Nakdong River.