Beyond Confucian constraints : the protestant christian perspective in Na Hye-Seok’s literary and artistic endeavours

Kang, Byoung Yoong (author)

The late 1910s and early 1920s encompassed a period of profound religious and ideological upheaval on the Korean peninsula. Emerging intellectuals boldly repudiated Confucianism, the bedrock of Joseon (조선) dynasty’s ideological framework, casting it as pernicious. This intellectual cohort perceived Confucian tenets as obstructive to societal metamorphosis, prompting the widespread publication of scathing critiques in major newspapers and magazines. Na Hye-seok (나혜석, 1896–1948) emerged as an eminent literary figure who fervently embraced Protestant Christian ideals amid this transformative milieu. This study meticulously examines the contributions of Na Hye-seok, lauded as Korea’s inaugural female modern artist and a pioneering advocate for women’s rights. During her sojourn in Japan in the late 1910s, she collaborated with female students to publish a magazine championing women’s rights and castigating early marriage through poignant short stories. Furthermore, Na Hye-seok embraced the prevailing Protestant Christianity, interweaving its ethos into her literary creations and actively seeking to promulgate it as a social movement. Such endeavours were not isolated to her alone but mirrored a pervasive trend among intellectuals of the era. This study intricately dissects the process by which Na Hye-seok transcended prevalent anti-Confucian sentiments among female intellectuals, adopted Protestant Christian ideals, and sculpted her vibrant literary oeuvre. Moreover, it scrutinises the ramifications of Na’s literary accomplishments, rooted in Protestant Christianity, on modern Korean literature, women, and society at large.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Confucianism in Korea, Protestant Christianity in Korea, Na Hye-seok, Korean literature, ideology
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 27-60
• Numbering: XXXVI, Special
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-167111
• UDC: 821.531.09:2
• ISSN on article: 1407-1908
• COBISS.SI-ID: 225534467
• Publication date in RUL: 10.02.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Reliègiski-filozofiski raksti
• Shortened title: Relièg.-filoz. raksti
• Publisher: LU Filozofijas un socioloègijas institäuts.
• ISSN: 1407-1908
• COBISS.SI-ID: 76096259

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: konfucijanstvo v Koreji, protestantsko krščanstvo v Koreji, Na Hye-seok, korejska književnost, ideologija

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: J6-50202
• Name: Konfucijanski preporod in njegov vpliv na sodobne vzhodnoazijske družbe skozi prizmo odnosa med individuumom in družbo