The History of the Book in Korea

The Routledge Companion to Korean Literature edited by Heekyoung Cho, 2022

2004

This study examines the appearance of interpretive communities of popular readers in the late Chosŏn period. Popular readers formed around fictional texts that could be borrowed from circulating libraries or purchased from private publishers. While sources that directly address the phenomenon of popular reading during the Chosön period are rare, considerable information can be gleaned from Western language publications on Korea and careful attention to the material construction of popular fiction texts. Many Western visitors to Korea had a particular interest in Korean print culture, and their writings can present some valuable insights into the social reception of popular texts and the distribution of vernacular fictional works through markets, bookstores and circulating libraries. The material construction of popular fiction texts also witnessed major changes during this period, and fictional works produced by private publishers and circulating libraries assumed physical forms that were highly suited for the reading practices and preferences of popular readers. While considerably more research on this topic needs to be done, the findings of this study suggests that popular readers could be found throughout late Chosŏn society, and they may have been highly concentrated in areas such as Seoul and among certain social groups like elite women.

Proceedings of the Internatioanl of Historiography and Source Studies of Asia and Africa Vol.1, 2020

This study focused on the sociocultural meaning of private moveable metal-type books in Chosŏn during the 17–18th centuries. Although moveable metaltype printing, in principle, was only reserved for official publishing, some high officials and literati in this period used government-owned metal type systems to print books they desired to possess and distribute. Yi yuan zhi yan and Shi shuo xin yu bu, compiled by Ming Dynasty writer, Wang Shizhen(王世貞), discussed in this paper, are such cases. Later, wooden type printing was adopted to meet the increasing demand of these books. However, it did not lead to a mass publication using woodblock prints, suggesting that their readers were still limited to a small number of the literati elite. This makes a sharp contrast to the cases of the late Ming and early Qing China and Edo Japan, where commercial printing culture flourished with the huge expansion of readers among commoners. Nevertheless, I consider these cases as a step from official printing toward commercial printing. This paper argued that the privately printed books in early 18th century Chosŏn are meaningful, as they materialized the elite’s pursuit of private taste and desire, being an expression of individuality, which became the most distinctive haracteristic of Chosŏn literature in the late 18th century.

The Pitt

Acta Koreana, 2017

This article explores the transnational interaction of early modern Korean literature with special attention to the practice of " censorship. " By examining media control by the government authorities in both late Chosŏn Korea and late imperial China, this study aims to examine how the state and policymakers attempted to control the flow of unorthodox books and how the production of books epitomized the cultural values of the day. " What value system prompted the authorities to forbid a certain body of texts? " " What agencies were instrumental in the circulation of books? " By analyzing various travelogues to Beijing (yŏnhaengnok) and notes on poetry (sihwa), this article examines how the transnational interaction between China and Korea and changing textual environments influenced the production of literature in late Chosŏn. Using a specific case study of Yi Tŏng-mu (1741–1793), this article demonstrates that various " informal networks " outside of conventional channels functioned as the actual key drivers of book culture. In particular, a number of " book brokers " in the Qing and Chosŏn facilitated the distribution of forbidden books. My study on these circulatory dynamics reveals how negotiations between the control of media and the distributing of books influenced the textual environments and how the cultural value system shaped the production of literature. Keywords: censorship, circulation of books, early modern Korea, informal networks, production of literature, Sino-Korean interaction, transnational, Yi Tŏng-mu, yŏnhaengnok

This article analyzes 32 nonfiction picture books about South Korea, drawing on Said's (in: Essed and Goldberg (eds) Race critical theories, Blackwell Publishing, Maden, pp 15-37, 2002) critical perspectives of Orientalism and Imagined Geography. Specifically, we explore the nature of informational books, arguing that readers consume these designs as a commodity rather than as an informational resource. In doing so, we unpack falsities about South Korea as reflected in Western readers' and authors' understandings of imagined geography. Findings show nonfiction books about Korea as a global culture feature five categories of inaccurate and false information: (1) the complete made-up story, (2) partially accurate information (3) overgeneralized statements, (4) outdated information, and (5) mismatched visual information. By focusing on nonfiction picture books for children, we underscore the obligation that book creators (authors and publishers) have to ensure the veracity of knowledge (re)production and circulations about Korean people and culture.