River-Novel is a genre that was enjoyed mainly by the upper class during the late Joseon Dynasty, and reflects the lives and rituals of the contemporary people in depth. In particular, the relationship between parents and children is more important t ...
River-Novel is a genre that was enjoyed mainly by the upper class during the late Joseon Dynasty, and reflects the lives and rituals of the contemporary people in depth. In particular, the relationship between parents and children is more important than any other relationship in the novel, which shows a three-generation structure. Therefore, lighting on parent-child relationships is an important part of the analysis of the novel. There has been a lot of research on parent-child relationships, but it is time for a more three-dimensional view of their relationships. By taking a multi-pronged approach to parent-child relationships embodied in the novel, we were able to achieve the following results. The annual arrangement of these is as follows:
1. Year 1 assignment
I wanted to examine the differences in parents' attitudes toward their children who committed wrongdoings in river-novels, and examine the characteristics of their fathers and mothers. For this I examined Yu U-seong and Mrs. Lee of Yussisamdaerok(劉氏三代錄), and So Hui-ryang and Mrs. Ju of Wanwolhoemaengyeon(玩月會盟宴), the parents who all appear as wise persons, and cases such as Okwonjaehapkiyeon(玉鴛再合奇緣), Imssisamdaerok(林氏三代錄) and Chossisamdaerok(曺氏三代錄) were also used as supporting materials.
In view of the difference between father and mother of the wrong child, the father gave one-sided and dogmatic instructions in the position of the referee, was busy with official duties, and left the child to do wrong or used violent methods such as corporal punishment if he knew his child's wrongdoings. On the other hand, the mother showed a lot of non-violent ways, that is to say, she apologized for the child's sins or she was kicked out of the office for the child, and always detected the child's behavior carefully, she wanted to persuade the child with words even after she found out her child's faults.
From this perspective, it is meaningful that the relationship between the father and mother in river-novels is a clear indication of the difference between the father and mother under the patriarchal system, which was not usually well-known. Beginning with the child's immoral case, the father is elevated to the position of referee, and the mother is treated as a sinner with her child and kneels before the father, extremely being downgraded. However, it is meaningful that the differences between father and mother over their children's wrongdoings in the epic novel not only reveal the difference in rank of father and mother in the family, but also show the other side in depth. The father, who always wears inner armor to protect his children from the outside and show his authority, only highlights the image of a "strong father", and experiences a "paradox of fatherhood" alienated from his children by his lack of a "cautious father." On the other hand, the mother was welcomed by her children by showing horizontal, democratic and rational motherhood based on the ethics of care, unlike vertical, hierarchical and authority, by growing up as a "relational subject" while continuing her role as a mother, even though she was a step below her father's, as was the Dialectic of Master and Slave. A good look at the pattern of the response of father/mother over their child's faults in river-novels showed the potential for a reversal of the ostensible difference.
2. Year 2 assignment
I tried to explore new possibilities for 'fatherhood' through the character 'Sosong' in Okwonjaehapkiyeon(玉鴛再合奇緣) created in the 18th century. These days, when the debate is divided over whether fatherhood and motherhood are innate or acquired, a new generation of intimate fatherhood such as friendy father, new father, and androgynous father is emerging breaking away from the stereotyped image of 'strict father and loving mother'. This shows that the fatherhood and motherhood can be changeable with the times.
However, Sosong of Okwonjaehapkiyeon is significant because he already embodies this new fatherhood image in the 18th century when the code of clan regulation was consolidated. Just as a mother raises a child, Sosong practices self-sacrificing love after his wife died, show a relation oriented attitude to his children through horizontal empathy and communication, and takes care of all family members, including children, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. This is due to a special situation in which Sosong has involved the motherhood as a father while staying alone after his wife died. However, Okwonjaehapkiyeon is problematic in that unlike duke Lee Mun-jeong as a strrict father, Sosong, the loving father, is portrayed in a much more positive way. Furthermore, Okwonjaehapkiyeon clearly shows the longing for a new parent image by portraying female figures who are out of the conventional wisdom of motherhood of the time.
Nowadays, the fact that the fatherhood and motherhood are not stuck in a 'complete form' but are in a 'progressive type' that changes with the times is gaining traction. In this reality, Okwonjaehapkiyeon has already won a new fatherhood aspect in the late Joseon Dynasty, setting a foothold for establishing an ideal paternal image in today.
3. Year 3 assignment
In this paper, we reviewed the child's response to parents who are wrong. At a time when filial piety was more important than anything else in the late Joseon Dynasty, it is very difficult for a child to behave toward a parent who has done wrong. The novel deals with the child's excessive process of inspiration or persuasion to awaken the wrong parent in the parent-child conflict. While events that parents wake up their wrong children are usually portrayed as temporary faults of their children or as trivial as those around them, events that awaken their wrong parents are heavily portrayed throughout the work as conflicts among key characters. Just as the narrative of Yoo Yeon, who tries to enlighten his wrong mother and brother in the 17th century novel "Changseongamrok," forms the axis of the core narrative, the narrative of his children to awaken the wrong parents in the epic novel is the main one.
However, a child's attitude to awaken a parent who is wrong does not appear to be single. In classical novels, as the preceding study suggests that ethical conflicts between degree and authority are deeply embodied, various methods related to the standards of degree and authority appear in the attitude of children toward wrong parents. There are three aspects of parental conciliation, such as parental supervision through extreme obedience, and parental conciliation through temporary measures, and parental persuasion through self-harm as an intermediary between degree and authority. Of course, in this way, none of the answers is correct, and in the novel, the behavior of children who respond to wrong parents is varied depending on the situation. By scrutinizing these aspects, we would like to take a closer look at the most acute ethical issues of parent-child relationships in the novel, as well as take a deeper approach to the reality of the filial ideology of the time.
In this regard, discussions were held on "Yu Hyo-gong Seon-haeng-rok", "Wanwol Hoe-maeng-yeon", "Seonghyeon Gong-sook-gi-gi-gi-rok", "Okwon Jae-ham-gi-yeon", and "Changran-ho Yeon-rok", where problematic events are well embodied.
These examples can be found in Okwon Jaehabgiyeon, Changranho Yeonrok, and Wanwol Hoegeonyeon. First of all, in these three works, the heroine tries to cut off her ears or arms or takes off her face to persuade her father to betray the married family and marry her into another family. Nevertheless, as parents continue to force their daughters to work proportionately without realizing their mistakes, there is a scene in which they attempt to commit suicide. In Okwon Rehabitation, despite these self-harming acts, even parents attempt suicide when they do not open their own schools. Meanwhile, in Wanwolhoe Maengyeon, extreme aspects of self-harm are revealed, such as his son beating him with iron to make his whole body bleed or attempting to commit suicide to persuade his mother who is doing evil.
Each of these aspects has a certain meaning and its limitations. First of all, in the aspect of influencing parents through extreme obedience as a degree of filial piety, they sacrificed their children and others for the sake of absolute filial piety. This is a painful and heavy filial piety, and it is suggested as the most ideal filial piety in the work. However, blind filial piety, which values obedience to parents, was exposing its limitations by suggesting that someone's sacrifice should be accompanied by the opposite benefit.
Secondly, parents' conciliation through temporary measures as a guide showed light and cheerful filial piety. Not only were they gently enlightening their parents without revealing their misdeeds, but they were also realizing their filial piety without sacrificing their children or family members. Of course, in the case of such a cunning character, there is a limitation that the subject is limited and there is a slight problem in using methods such as deception, as there are some things that do not work as such. However, the aspect of implementing filial piety through the degree of wrong parents is so heavy and painful that there is an epic story about realizing filial piety by opening up the wrong parents in such a light and pleasant way. Therefore, it is possible to take a good look at the aspects of various works that encourage parents to repent of their wrongdoing as a guide.
Finally, we will examine the aspect of persuading parents through self-harm as an intermediary between degree and authority. This case shows the sharpness of conflict between parents and their children, and shows the child's suffering due to ugly parents in the most depth. Unlike parents who are wrong or parents who are wrong, their children are putting up resistance based on their bodies as collateral to go the right way. This results in a filial/inferior irony. It is filial piety in that it advises parents to take the right path, but it also constitutes an iniquity because it breaks the most basic guidelines of filial piety that do not damage the body's feet recklessly. The process of persuading parents through self-harm, which implies both filial piety and malpractice, shows problematically that parents' wrongdoings result in the destruction of their children's bodies through the sharpening of parent-child conflict.