Literature education aims at helping students develop abilities to understand and appreciate and evaluate literary works, discover the self and recognize the world while enjoying literature, and live a fruitful life with creativity based on imaginatio...
Literature education aims at helping students develop abilities to understand and appreciate and evaluate literary works, discover the self and recognize the world while enjoying literature, and live a fruitful life with creativity based on imagination. To achieve this goal, middle school textbooks for the seventh curriculum contain literary works, such as poems (including children's verse), novels (including children's stories and fables), dramas (including scenarios), and essays. However, prose is generally presented as a marginal type of literature or treated as being positioned between practical reading and literary one rather than being accepted as real literature in textbooks at each level of schools. Moreover, teaching on understanding and appreciation of prose is inexpressibly desolate. Such a reality is probably due to the fact that researches are focused on central genres, such as poems and novels, in the theories of literature and literature education and few researches have been conducted on other writing which belongs to so-called marginal genres. This study regarded an account of trip as a genre of literature, analyzed accounts of trip in Korean textbooks and those of Literature, which was an in-depth subject, at the secondary level on the basis of literary elements of essays, and examined problems of education about travel literature and presented solutions.
Chapter Ⅱ considered general characteristics of travel literature. Since there were few researches on travel literature and the existing researches were focused on classics, significance was given to characteristics of travel literature. First, travel literature was regarded as a genre of essay literature to discover elements of essay in it and present features specific to the genre. Definition, types, and features of travel literature were examined, along with changes in travel literature by changes in the meanings of travel. Modern travel literature was examined to confirm that travel literature was not simple writing to deliver information but a literary genre written by a writer's intention and suggest that travel literature should be based on literary properties while criticizing modern travel literature for being focused on travel guidance.
Chapter Ⅲ reviewed Korean and Literature textbooks at the secondary level. Travel literature contained in the textbooks were introduced to examine learning objectives and activities for units and lessons, along with classification and analysis of travel literature by materials, themes, writers, and forms. From this procedure, problems of teaching on travel literature were drawn, with improvement schemes for teaching on travel literature presented on the basis of the review of textbooks.
During the process of reviewing travel literature contained in textbooks, it was confirmed that although travel literature was treated as a genre revealing literary features, there was no teaching on travel literature itself. This study considered it problematic in teaching travel literature to use travel literature only as a reading material to confirm literary theory. Based on these problems of travel literature, suggestion was made that it should be necessary to implement theoretical education on travel literature for desirable teaching on travel literature and present learning activities in consideration of characteristics of travel literature. Considering that travel literature can provide cultural experience, suggestion was made that it should be necessary to contain various types of travel literature in textbooks.
Education should be provided so that it is possible to confirm the self and reflect themselves through travel literature. Teaching travel literature is expected to help get a correct understanding of travel literature and acquire abilities to appreciate and create it.