Agenda

02 Mar 2023 09:00

On the Characteristics and Values of the Korean Old Vernacular Letters in the Chosŏn Dynasty

Online Lecture

The Contribution of Vernaculars to the Rise of New Cultural Participation in Europe and Asia Lecture 3
On the Characteristics and Values of the Korean Old Vernacular Letters in the Chosŏn Dynasty

Hwang Mun-hwan, Professor, Academy of Korean Studies

Abstract
In the Joseon Dynasty, eon'gan 諺簡, or Korean old vernacular letters, were the most commonly used means to express private feelings of everyday life. Since eon'gan were widely used from the king upward to people of the lower classes, they have been precious soil where Korean language was protected and cultivated. Eon'gan were totally free of the characteristics possessed by translated materials, and they reflect a natural word order and contain rich everyday vocabularies of Korean language of the time. Also, eon'gan were so colloquial that reflect more precisely the honorification system, dialect and spoken forms of the contemporary language than any other materials. In addition, eon'gan open the possibility of sociolinguistic approaches to the study of the Korean language history due to their characteristics that enable precise observation of individual differences. Therefore, if the characteristics of eon'gan are well utilized, eon'gan will complement the printed materials that were centered on vernacular translation, and contribute greatly to adding the depth and breadth of researches done on the Korean language history.
On the other hand, the contents of eon'gan display the actual life of the time, so they are also lively materials for researches of Korean living history, Korean folklore history, Korean education history and so on. In addition, eon'gan are well-suited as materials for calligraphy history that will investigate the change of handwritten style of Hangeul by best reflecting individual’s diverse and unique styles among the manuscript materials. That is to say, eon'gan are not only valuable for researches of Korean language, but also can be used for researches of various fields. In the future, we should promote positively introductions of new eon'gan and activate further interdisciplinary studies on eon'gan.

The event will be held exclusively online upon registration: link

Con il patrocinio di 
Consolato Generale della Repubblica di Corea a Milano
Ca' Foscari Alumni
Dipartimento di Studi sull'Asia e sull'Africa Mediterranea, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

 

Organized by

Department of Asian and North African Studies (Vincenza D'Urso); Ca’Foscari Korean Studies Lecture Series; Eurasia Foundation (from Asia); Fondazione Università Ca' Foscari

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