KOREAN LITERATURE 3

This is one of the core courses within the Korea curriculum of the Corso di Laurea in "Lingue, Culture e Società dell'Asia e dell'Africa Mediterranea".
Korean Literature 3 is designed in the form of an in-depth seminar on a different Korean author, genre, or subject relevant to the history of Korean Literature studied in the two previous courses (K-Lit1 and 2).
Also this year the 15-week seminar will be dedicated to the sijo poetic form. In particular, the course will touch on themes related to terminology, theories on the origin of the genre, its evolution over five centuries, and the major protagonists of the most long-lived poetic genre in Korea. During the course original texts in the Classical language will be read, grammatically analysed and translated in Italian, under the guidance of the professor. Translation from the original text will be part of the oral exam.

The sijo genre is considered one of the most long-lasting in Korean Literature, and also the one that more than any other genre encompasses a great variety of voices from all walks of life and social status. Having a more in-depth knowledge of the sijo genre will allow students to learn more also about Korean cultural history, through the verses of philosophers and politicians, kings and princes, kisaeng, poets, calligraphers, and musicians. The course will also deal with stylistic and conceptual changes that occurred in the sijo form of the XX century, with the onset of the Enlightenment period, and it will provide glimpses into the kaehwagi sijo, its new themes, and its contemporary authors.

Knowledge and comprehension:
- knowing and understanding the main elements (authors, movements, works, and so on) of the history of the sijo genre from its origin to the contemporary period.
- connect them with historical and cultural developments studied in other courses of the same curriculum.

Ability to apply knowledge and comprehension:
- ability to analyze and explain literary texts by utilizing given interpretation methods

Judgment abilities:
- ability to produce critiques on textual, historical and literary themes included in the study programme, by recurring to critically and historically solid arguments
- ability to evaluate all kinds of literary primary sources

Communicative abilities:
- ability ot express and elaborate in writing the contents of the course programme, using critical approach and not mnemonical strategies.

Learning abilities:
- learn how to take notes effectively and thoroughly
- how to integrate the study on different materials (notes, slides, manuals, creative texts and academic articles)
- learning to study autonomously with materials and on subjects not covered in class
- Learning how to deal with materials in English

Having passed at least the exam of Korean Literature 1, preferably also Korean Literature 2.

Introduction to Pre-modern Korean poetry genres.
Two parallel directions: Poetry of Chinese origin, Poetry of Korean origin
The first use of the term sijo
Attempts at explaining the sijo term
Attempts at explaining the origin of the genre
Sijo's evolution over the centuries
Major protagonists (with texts in the original classical language, to analyse and translate into Italian)
Women and sijo (with texts in the original classical language, to analyse and translate into Italian)
Sijo in the XX century

Original texts taken from:

박을수, 한국시조대사전 상-하, 아세아문화사, 서울:1992

김홍대et al., 고시조대전, 고려대학교 민족문화연구원, 서울:2012

심재완, 역대시조전서, 세종문화사, 서울:1972

Texts in translation taken from:
O'Rourke, K. The Sijo Tradition, Jung Eum Sa, Seoul: 1987 (1st edition)
___________ The Book of Korean Shijo, Harvard East Asian Monographs, Harvard University Asia Center, 2002
Professor's Manual (in preparation)


Other texts:
McCann, David R. Form and Freedom in Korean Poetry, Leiden, Brill, 1988.

Other reference texts and texts to be translated will be uploaded on Moodle platform at the beginning of classes, together with eventual integrations.

At course completion, all participants will send to the professor their own files containing all the sijo texts read, grammatically analysed and translated into Italian (from the original Middle or Modern Korean version, and not from the Contemporary Korean version) during the course. Files shall be sent to the professor from the student's institutional address at least one week before the oral exam. The oral test will encompass the entire programme, and a part of it will be dedicated to the reading, grammatical analysis and declamation of the texts learnt by heart (in the original, classical version).

written and oral

Regarding the grading scale, scores will be assigned according to the following criteria:
A. Scores in the 18-22 range will be awarded in the presence of a sufficient knowledge of Classical
Korean grammar and a sufficient ability to analyze the given texts from a grammatical perspective
and render them in translation.
B. Scores in the 23-26 range will be awarded in the presence of a fair knowledge of Classical Korean
grammar and a fair ability to analyze the given texts from a grammatical perspective and render
them in translation.
C. Scores in the 27-30 range will be awarded in the presence of a good or excellent knowledge of
Classical Korean grammar and a good or excellent ability to analyze the given texts from a
grammatical perspective and render them in translation.
D. Honors will be awarded in the presence of an outstanding knowledge of Classical Korean
grammar and an outstanding ability to analyze the given texts from a grammatical perspective and
render them in translation.

Teacher-led classes with group activities, slide projection and use of other interactive teaching materials.

Please remember that the final report shall be submitted via email at least one week prior to the oral test, to allow enough time for corrections before the oral test.