In face of the 21centry, scholars in Korean literature are forced to stand the influence of the capital and the constantly changing conditions. I believe that we are at the point of seeking for a new paradigm and adopting new methodolgies that fit it,...
In face of the 21centry, scholars in Korean literature are forced to stand the influence of the capital and the constantly changing conditions. I believe that we are at the point of seeking for a new paradigm and adopting new methodolgies that fit it, and no one deny the need for interdisciplinary approaches with other academic fields.
First and foremost, we are trying to find out the linkings between the studies of classics and modern literary works, focusing on their structural continuity and alternation in the fundamental elements, such as the sense of beauty, the consensus of genre, or national identity, not merely adopting the techniques or the texts of classics.
Secondly, it cannot be too much to emphasize on the communication between Korean literature and Korean linguistics, for we have several reasons to gain an access to them interdisciplinarily: they share the same object to study, i.e., the Korean language, and the literature studies are inevitably based on the linguistic interpretation. For systematic cooperation between the two fields of academia, firstly the professors as well as the researchers majoring in the Korean literature and linguistics gather in regular basis, and in addition, it is important to select students who are familiar with both of the fields.
Thirdly, to put the studies regarding women's literature in the right place in the history of Korean literature should be carried out, and this means to recover the wholeness of the history of Korean literature by means of adding the missing part of it to. It must encourage the exploration on the women's literature, which have made ample discussion, but borne relatively little amount of results.
Lastly, the studies of Korean literature should go beyond its boundary, 'literary works', and willingly extend its interests to the culture. Specifically, it is desirable for us to be concerned with interaction between the literature and the cultural recepients, and also interested in popularity, and day-to-day lives.
Besides we should positively correspond to the cultural changes as well as those in the environment and the media in this era. In my opinion these kinds of researches will lead us to re-identify the theories of modern literature as ones with cultural reality, and further to make creative expressions of themselves.
To conclude, the literature cannot live isolated without any interaction with other fields in the world. To actively deal with the changes today, and to reveal the creative forces it has, the literature should be a major motivation to develop a new concept of culture. For this purpose, we explore the way to overcome the disruption among a variety of areas, and endeavor to interact with those fields. Therefore, the scholars in Korean literature should not only do the communicative research in the spheres of literature, but also do the integrative, interdisciplinary works with other people in other realms. The ultimate aim of literary studies will be to converge into the studies as answers to what our life is, and to how to respond to it, in short, what 'culture' is. And we should pursue this until it can play an important role as social capital.