고려대학교

초록/요약

“Happy ending” first appears in Joseon fiction in the 16thcentury. Its appearance and distribution shows that the topography of fiction was undergoing a fundamental transformation. Fiction, which had until then been perceived merely as an unstable genre, began to be used as a tool for achieving various ends. The narrative structure of a “happyending” made possible the popularization of stories, and they were used to spread the ideology of Neo-Confucianism or to enlighten the public. This can be confirmed in stories such as Hasaenggiwujeon, Cheongunjeon, and Oryunjeonjeon. In particular, Oryunjeonjeon is an important text which shows in detail how fiction began to be used as tool for enlightenment by politicians. The problem is that, starting from the 17thcentury, a trend can be observed where the focus of enlightenment through fiction becomes more concentrated on women. In the fiction of this period, “happyending” includes the long suffering and marginalization of women during the process of stabilization and prosperity for the family. We perceive in Choecheokjeon the voice of men who induce the long suffering of women in order to recover the family. Moreover, in Sassinamjeonggi, a strict dichotomy of saintly and wicked women was used to reach a “happyending,” which strengthened reader involvement much more effectively, and ultimately succeeded in its aim of enlightening the women readers.