Korea, China and Japan are three leading East Asian nations. These nations have had close relations both geographically and historically, developing and maintaining very active political, economic, social, cultural and linguistic exchanges through the ...
Korea, China and Japan are three leading East Asian nations. These nations have had close relations both geographically and historically, developing and maintaining very active political, economic, social, cultural and linguistic exchanges through the course of history. In this global era when technological advances in communication and transportation have made cooperations and exchanges among Korea, China and Japan more and more intense, this study aimed to discuss how the three nations accepted the modern civilization and innovated their traditions on the basis of subject/other dichotomy in the early modern period. And in order to do that, we chose to compare the modern writers of the three nations who had study abroad experiences in common.
So we selected the nations' representative writers and delved into how they shaped their perspectives on the modern civilization and what they realized about it through their life, including their study abroad experiences. Specifically, we focused on their studying abroad as some kind of spatial experiences and adopted positivist research methods.
Following the basic framework development, we tried to define the writers' notions of modern civilization as they experienced and their attitude toward their own traditions. And we looked into the influences that the spatial experience of studying abroad had on their writings, and more broadly on Korean, Chinese and Japanese modern literary history. We also conducted close research on such various issues as the cultural spaces, college education, the importance of educational background in their society, their non-literary activities, and their friendships.
As for our research accomplishments over the last 2 years, we had 28 related seminars in the first year and 37 ones in the second year, and also held 3 special lectures of distinguished scholars both from home and abroad each year. Other accomplishments include: 8 (year 1) and 6 (year 2) articles presented in related conferences; and 14 (year 1) and 11(year 2) articles published in the accredited (or candidate) journals of National Research Foundation of Korea.
Articles published during the first year include: "A Comparative Study of the Studying Abroad Experience of Noh Shin and Lee Gwang Soo and Their Early Novels"; "Modernity of the Space Represented in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese Autobiographical Novels"; and "An Inquiry into Natsume Soseki's Admiration, Disillusion, and Worry about Modern Civilization."
Articles published during the second year include: "A Comparative Study on Taisho Democracy and Individualistic Subjects of KoreanㆍJapanese of Modern Writers -Through the comparison of Yeom Sang-sup and Akutagawa Ryunosuke"; "Study on the Tradition of the Edo Era in Japanese Modern Literature - Murder and Self-disembowelment described in 『Sorekara』by Nastume Soseki"; and "Study on the Modern Age and Tradition reflected in the Japanese Modern Literature - Focused on 「The Eighth Night」in 『Ten Nights of Dream』."
As you can see in the list above, the study has been conducted according to plan, in line with the purpose and content set at the beginning. We are proud that the research accomplishments over the last 2 years could be considered remarkable: 65 seminar presentations, 14 conference presentations, and 25 articles published in the accredited (or candidate) journals of National Research Foundation of Korea. Furthermore the researchers have held those 65 seminars regularly not only during the semesters but during the vacation periods as well. Judging from the overall performance, we can surely expect more articles will be published in related academic journals in the near future, too.