The Life and Works of Yi Ok

My dissertation examines premodern Korean literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on the role of the literati in the development of popular literature and culture in late Choson Korea. In particular, I consider the significance of the literary works of the prominent Choson literatus Yi Ok as a case study to reexamine the cultural diversities of the literary field at this time. Yi Ok was an iconoclast whose controversial writings violated Neo-Confucian literary norms, even compelling King Chongjo (r. 1776-1800) to establish a policy prohibiting the Choson literati from writing in Yi's style. In examining Yi's unconventional stories, such as those about morally defeated members of the literati, lower-class people, and ghosts and transcendents, my dissertation challenges prevalent ideas about premodern Korean literati; they are often perceived as Confucian moralists whose writings, themes, and subject matter are limited to didactic moral lessons in the service of upholding the Confucian social order. My dissertation demonstrates that the theme of secular desires and the use of colloquial language were popular among politically marginalized members of the literati. It shows the existence of a much more expansive characteristic of the Choson literati culture at large, which impacted the development of fiction in late Choson