세자빈 봉씨 관련 역사적 기록과 문학적 재현 = Historical Records and Literary Representations of the Crown Princess Bong

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

he Crown Princess Bong, daughter-in-law to King Sejong of the Joseon dynasty, is often cited as one of the most widely known historical examples of homosexuality in the premodern period. However, research on this historical figure remains scanty, and to address this gap, the present study analyzes the historical records and literary representations relevant to Crown Princess Bong.
By scrutinizing the Sejong Shillok, this study arrives at three main insights: First, the records reveal King Sejong’s perceptions and perspectives of Bong, but not her inner life. Second, the court ladies and the eunuch are the main, albeit hidden, agents behind the Crown Princess’s expulsion. Third, the unresolved differences between the statements of the Crown Princess and those of the Sossang leave the truth uncertain. This study then examines how the historical records are reinterpreted through the literary imagination of three novels published in the 2000s: The Secret of Hunminjeongeum (2008), Chaehong (2011), and Samsaekdo (2023), each of which represents the Crown Princess Bong in different ways.
By analyzing the key features of each novel, especially the literary figuration of the Crown Princess, this study shows how all three novels refute King Sejong’s view of homosexuality as “extremely ugly” in different ways. The Secret of Hunminjeongeum emphasizes the complicity between the Crown Princess and the court ladies by figuring homosexuality between women as a form of comfort and solidarity among women marginalized by the neo-Confucian order and as a mode of resistance to the oppressiveness of palace life. Chaehong actively reimagines and reconstructs the inner life of the Crown Princess based on her deviant behavior as recorded in the historical archive. By doing so, it convinces the readers of the inevitability of her choices. Samsaekdore constructs the Crown Princess’s narrative by intersecting it with various historical records. In particular, the novel emphasizes her queerness by figuring her character using the marvelous and intractable traits of the elephant.