한국시가(詩歌)에 대한 구한말 서양인들의 고찰과 인식 -James Scarth Gale을 중심으로- = Westerners` Perceptions of Korean Poetry in the Period of the Greater Korean Empire -Focusing on James Scarth Gale`s Writings-

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper is aimed on looking into Westerners` writings on Korean literature - especially on Korean poetry in the period of the Greater Korean Empire. Both Ernst J. Oppert and William E. Griffis who experienced Korea indirectly through China or Japan in 1870s gave negative views on Korean Literature in their books. That is, Oppert concluded that Korean literature was inferior and undeveloped, for Koreans didn`t have any concrete dramatic art forms while even Chinese and Japanese had several of them. Similarly, Griffis also wrote that Korean people much preferred composing in Chinese characters; as a result, no serious verses in Korean language could be found. On the other hand, James S. Gale, a renowned missionary from Canada, who stayed in Korea from 1888 to 1927, produced more scholastic achievements in the studies of Korean poetry as well as Korean history and culture. After encountering and looking through Namhuntaepyeongga(南薰太平歌), an anthology mainly composed of Sijo(時調) and printed in the mid-19th century, he translated the verses from it in English and presented his viewpoints of Korean poetry and literature in the Korean Repository in 1895, where he pointed out suggestiveness and allegory as the characteristics of Korean literature. However, his interest in Sijo and Korean vernacular verses moved soon to Korean works in Chinese, and he started to think that literary works in Korean vernacular were much coarser than those in Chinese. As a result, he focused on translating Korean works in Chinese instead. Especially, Gale intented to publish his translations of the verses in Donggukisanggukjip(東國李相國集) in his later years in England, but his manuscripts could not finally come out because few westerners were interested in Korean verses which looked like almost the same as Chinese ones. Another missionary, Homer B. Hulbert, who leaded the studies on Korean culture among westerners in Korea in the period of the Greater Korean Empire, also presented his views on Korean poetry and literature, which conflicts with Gales`. Hulbert`s writings on Korean literature will be reviewed in the following paper.