ASIA 347

INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL KOREAN LITERATURE

Term 1, 2014-15
Buchanan D322
Revised Syllabus
Instructor: Bruce Fulton, Department of Asian Studies
Office: Asian Centre 216
Office telephone: 822-6145
Email: fultonb@mail.ubc.ca (weekdays)
bruceedu@gmail.com (weekends)
Office Hours: Tuesday, 5-6
Wednesday, 12-1
Required Texts
1. Marshall R. Pihl and Bruce Fulton, comp., Reader in Premodern Korean Literature (to be sent by
email)
2. Kevin ORourke, trans. and ed., Selected Poems of Kim Sakkat (available from UBC Bookstore)
Course Requirements
Class Participation: 20%
Weekly quizzes: 20%
Midterm exam (essay format): 30%
Final exam (essay format): 30%
For Extra Credit
1. 15-minute oral report focusing on an author, topic, or genre approved by instructor and discussing:
(a) major or representative works (apart from assigned readings)
(b) distinctive characteristics
(c) various approaches to understanding the author, topic, or genre
(d) significance of author, topic, or genre in classical Korean literature
class presentation to be accompanied by a one-page single-spaced outline
2. 15-minute performance (song, dance, play) based on one of the class readings
3. term paper (this option is open only to students who do not give an oral report or a performance)
(a) may focus on an author, topic, or genre, including those not covered in this course
(b) minimum of 15 pages double-spaced (about 3750 words)
Classroom Etiquette
1. Please turn off and put away cell phones before you come to class.
2. Please keep laptops closed during class.

Class Schedule
September 2
(Imagine UBC Day; no class)
September 4
What is Korean literature, and how can we engage with it?
September 9
hyangga
September 11
Kory songs
September 16
Yi Kyu-bo
September 18
Chng Chi-sang and Kory hanshi
September 23
(no class)
September 25
(no class)
September 30
the oral tradition: folktales, mask dance
October 2
Chng Chl
October 7
Yun Sn-do
October 9
Pak Il-lo
October 9 (makeup class, 5 p.m. in our classroom; attendance optional but assigned reading mandatory)
kisaeng poetry
October 14
naebang kasa: songs from the inner room
October 16
palace literature
October 21
midterm exam: essay 1
October 23
midterm exam: essay 2

October 28
Chosn shijo; sasl shijo
October 30
Chosn kasa
November 4
pansori; the Chunhyang story
November 6
Kim Sakkat and Chosn hanshi
November 11
Early fictional narratives
oral report 1
November 13
A Nine-Cloud Dream
oral report 2
November 18
The Tale of Hong Kiltong
oral report 3
November 20
Pak Chi-wn
oral report 4
November 25
pansori; the Shim Chng story
oral report 5
November 27
the New Fiction
oral report 6
Makeup Class (date and place to be decided)
Im Kwn-taeks film Chunhyang tyn
Course Readings (R: required; O: optional)
September 4
R: "Song of Ch'yong" (handout)
O: "Tangun" (reader)
O: "Pak Hykkse, the Founder of Shilla" (reader)
O: King Tongmyng, Founder of Kogury (reader)
O: Yi Kyu-bo, The Lay of King Tongmyng (reader)
September 9
R: "Fourteen Shilla Songs in Their Narrative Contexts" (reader)
O: The Book of Korean Poetry, pp. 1-3, 10-21
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, chapters 1-2
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, chapters 1-2, pp. 58-62, 87-94

O: Lee, ed., Anthology of Korean Literature, "Introduction"

O: Lee, A New History of Korea, pp. 81-86
September 11
R: "Sogak Kasa: The Popular Lyrics of Kory" (reader)
R: Songs From Kory (shijo)
O: The Book of Korean Poetry, pp. 22-49
O: The Book of Korean Poetry, pp. 51-52, 84, 87-89 (shijo)
September 16
R: poems by Yi Kyu-bo (email)
O: The Book of Korean Poetry, pp. 58-75
R: Five Essays by Yi Kyu-bo (reader)
O: O'Rourke, trans., Singing Like a Cricket, Hooting Like an Owl
O: O'Rourke, trans., Tilting the Jar, Spilling the Moon, pp. 20-45
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, chapter 3
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 62-66
O: Lee, A New History of Korea, pp. 134, 153
September 18
R: Cho Tong-il, "Chng Chi-sang, a Poet in the Vortex of Upheaval" (reader)
R: Ch'oe Ch'i-wn, "On a Rainy Autumn Night" and other poems (reader)
R: Selected Poems of Kim Sakkat, pp. 11-13
O: The Book of Korean Poetry, pp. 53-55
O: The Book of Korean Poetry, pp. 5-9, 50-53, 55-58, 75-87, 89-90 (hanshi)
O: selection from Collection for Dispelling Boredom ((reader)
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 75-78, 138-41, 137-38
O: Lee, trans., The Moonlit Pond, "Introduction," pp. 3-42
O: Kim, trans., Slow Chrysanthemums, pp. 13-52
O: Lee, A New History of Korea, pp. 168, 198-99
O: Lee, A Korean Storyteller's Miscellany
September 30
R: The Tokkaebis Club (reader)
R: The Faithful Daughter Shim Chng (reader)
R: Hahoe mask dance (reader)
O: Pari Kongju muga: Conclusion and Translation (email)
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 133-135, 95-97, 122-29
O: Lee, A New History of Korea, pp. 164-65, 192-93
O: Lee, Songs of Flying Dragons: A Critical Reading
O: Han, Korean Folk and Fairy Tales
October 2
R: Chong Ch'l, shijo (reader)
R: Chong Ch'l, "Thinking of the Loved One" (reader)
October 7
R: Yun Sn-do, The Fisherman's Calendar (reader)
R: Yun Sn-do, "My Five Friends" (reader)
October 9
R: Pak Il-lo, "In Praise of Poverty" (reader)
R: Pak Il-lo, "Songs of the Five Relations (reader)
O: Lee, trans., Pine River and Lone Peak
O: McCann, Form and Freedom in Korean Poetry, pp. 35-46

October 9
R: McCarthy, Kisaeng and Poetry in the Kory Period (reader)
R: Shijo Verse by Kisaeng Poets (reader)
R: Kyehyang, To My Faraway Love and other poems in Chinese by kisaeng (reader)
October 14
R: "Cautionary Song" (reader)
R: "Laments and Folk Songs (reader)
October 16
R: The History of Queen Inhyn (reader)
R: excerpt from Memoirs of a Korean Queen (reader)
O: Contogenis and Choe, trans., Songs of the Kisaeng
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, chapter 6
October 28
R: Drinking Songs (reader)
R: Moral Songs (reader)
R: Sasl Shijo (reader)
October 30
R: Chng Kg-in, In Praise of Spring (reader)
R: An To-wn, "An Exile's Life (reader)
November 4
R: excerpts from The Korean Singer of Tales, by Marshall R. Pihl (reader)
R: The Song of a Faithful Wife, Chunhyang (reader)
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 100-104, 176-79
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, chapter 10
November 6
R: Selected Poems of Kim Sakkat
R: Sng Sam-mun, "Before Execution" and other poems in Chinese (reader)
R: Pak Chi-wn, Remembering My Brother at Yn Boulder (reader)
O: Rutt, trans., The Bamboo Grove
O: Lee, The Moonlit Pond, pp. 43-145
O: Kim, Slow Chrysanthemums, pp. 53-124
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, pp. 75-84
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 66-70, 142-49
O: McCann, Form and Freedom in Korean Poetry, pp. 1-18, 20-35
O: O'Rourke, Tilting the Jar, Spilling the Moon, pp. 86-121
O: Lee, Anthology of Korean Literature, pp. 92-100, 148-60, 177-91, 193-94, 202-11, 290-93
November 11
R: Fulton, "Korean Novel" (email)
R: Kim Shi-sp, "Student Yi Peers Over the Wall" (reader)
November 13
R: excerpt from A Nine-Cloud Dream, by Kim Man-jung (reader)
O: Rutt, trans., A Nine-Cloud Dream
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, chapter 8
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 107-8
November 18
R: H Kyun, "The Tale of Hong Kiltong" (reader)

November 20
R: Pak Chi-wn, "The Story of Master H" (reader)
R: Pak Chi-wn, The Yangbans Tale (reader)
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, chapters 7, 9
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, 108-9
O: Lee, Anthology of Korean Literature, pp. 222-25
O: Chung, ed., Korean Classical Literature, pp. 18-26
O: Lee, A New History of Korea, pp. 235, 243
November 25
R: The Tale of Shim Chng (reader)
November 27
R: Yi In-jik, Tears of Blood (reader)
O: Kim, Introduction to Classical Korean Literature, pp. 84-86, chapter 11
O: McCann, Form and Freedom in Korean Poetry, pp. 18-20
O: Kim, Understanding Korean Literature, pp. 70-72, 31-35, 82-83, 115-18