• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.47
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• pp.191-216
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• 2017

Among 20th century Western ideologies (Western civilization), existentialism is a spirit of the times to restore humanity as rationality and advanced technology have driven mankind to impoverishment and death, experiencing the First and Second World War, Great Depression, Fascism and the Spanish Civil War. In his literature, $Andr{\acute{e}}$ Malraux records his existential agony of how mankind lives and faces death by questioning the fateful life and death of characters. For Malraux's characters, the absurdity of existence related to the human identity means self-examination. Malraux explores existential consciousness and actions of characters in the presence of a concept known as death relative to terror, revolution, and adventure. Malraux deftly addresses the concept of death in his literary works, and it has being emphasized as a central subject for philosophical speculation. In Les $Conqu{\acute{e}}rants$(1928), La Voie Royale(1930), La Condition Humaine (1933), L'Espoir(1937), Malraux suggested a philosophical thesis of the meaning of life through characters in tragic situations, and sought out the consciousness of being and the existential meaning through how the characters control their fate. Malraux, in such a tragic perspective of the world, portrays humanity, affirmation of life, and characters' consciousness and actions in denying death. The agony of death triggers escapist behavior such as having unpredictable instinctual desires such as gambling or smoking opium, but these are desperate struggles to flee from frustration and related to the question of one's existence. What is always emphasized with respect to Malraux's existentialism is the tragic metaphysics of the inevitable destiny of the human condition eventually leading to the question of how humans ultimately confront death. But as characters unite in times of war, revolution and adventure in the novel, such cooperative actions symbolizes a keen sense of solidarity reflecting a camaraderie that transcends individualism. Fellowship among people who voluntarily gather for the common cause of philanthropy and restoring humanity is possible because of the underlying human greatness to sacrifice for such a noble cause. Therefore, Malraux's camaraderie includes the victory of existentialism in creating a world of humanism.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.52
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• pp.277-312
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• 2018

First-order cybernetics during the 1940s and 1950s aimed for control of an observed system, while second-order cybernetics during the mid-1970s aspired to address the mechanism of an observing system. The former pursues an objective, subjectless, approach to a system, whereas the latter prefers a subjective, personal approach to a system. Second-order observation must be noted since a human observer is a living system that has its unique cognition. Maturana and Varela place the autopoiesis of this biological system at the core of second-order cybernetics. They contend that an autpoietic system maintains, transforms and produces itself. Technoscientific recreation of biological autopoiesis opens up to a new step in cybernetics: what I describe as third-order cybernetics. The formation of technoscientific autopoiesis overlaps with the Fourth Industrial Revolution or what Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee call the Second Machine Age. It leads to a radical shift from human centrism to posthumanity whereby humanity is mechanized, and machinery is biologized. In two versions of the novel Demon Seed, American novelist Dean Koontz explores the significance of technoscientific autopoiesis. The 1973 version dramatizes two kinds of observers: the technophobic human observer and the technology-friendly machine observer Proteus. As the story concludes, the former dominates the latter with the result that an anthropocentric position still works. The 1997 version, however, reveals the victory of the techno-friendly narrator Proteus over the anthropocentric narrator. Losing his narrational position, the technophobic human narrator of the story disappears. In the 1997 version, Proteus becomes the subject of desire in luring divorcee Susan. He longs to flaunt his male egomaniac. His achievement of male identity is a sign of technological autopoiesis characteristic of third-order cybernetics. To display self-producing capabilities integral to the autonomy of machinery, Koontz's novel demonstrates that Proteus manipulates Susan's egg to produce a human-machine mixture. Koontz's demon child, problematically enough, implicates the future of eugenics in an era of technological autopoiesis. Proteus creates a crossbreed of humanity and machinery to engineer a perfect body and mind. He fixes incurable or intractable diseases through genetic modifications. Proteus transfers a vast amount of digital information to his offspring's brain, which enables the demon child to achieve state-of-the-art intelligence. His technological editing of human genes and consciousness leads to digital standardization through unanimous spread of the best qualities of humanity. He gathers distinguished human genes and mental status much like collecting luxury brands. Accordingly, Proteus's child-making project ultimately moves towards technologically-controlled eugenics. Pointedly, it disturbs the classical ideal of liberal humanism celebrating a human being as the master of his or her nature.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.40
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• pp.307-323
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• 2007

One of the distinguishing features of late Jeosun s Hanshi (poem in Chinese) is the numerous creation of Yeonjachyung Keesokshi (serial poem on folklore) which describes the folk manner and folk way of life in detail. Keesokshi s subject matter is the folklike in general including local features, geography, climate, local production, humanity, social conducts, and daily labor for living as well. By its material characteristics, Keesokshi reflects detailed life conditions of the society members in each levels, and represents the local customs as well as the folk emotions. Among the several kinds of Keesokshis, a Sesi Keesokshi focuses only in reciting the folk customs on each seasonal festival days, and the great numbers of such serial poems appear during the latter part of the Jeosun Dynasty. Its overall background is the transition of artistic trend which came after many social changes such as expansion of realism, uprising national consciousness, shaken status system, and the rising of 'Jeosun si motives in the Hansi history. Moreover, each writers various experiences and their interests in the reality and critical minds of common people contributed a crucial roll in creation of Sesi Keesokshi. 178 of the 584 remaining serial Sesi Keesokshi are written particularly about the folk customs in The Grand Full Moon Festival (the first full moon of a year by the lunar calendar). These Hanshis widely reflect the common ways of living by directly accepting the seasonal folk customs as the subject matters. Especially, close to the reality, these poems positively express the people's simple vigorous lives and create unrestrained lively image by describing the joys and sorrows of the folk ewistence along with their craving. Also, it is notable to have customs such as 'Shil-Ssa-Um' and 'No-gu-ban-kong-yang' as subjects for its rarity in other literatures.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.40
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• pp.271-306
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• 2007

One of the distinguishing features of late Jeosun's Hanshi (poem in Chinese) is the numerous creation of Yeonjachyung Keesokshi (serial poem on folklore) which describes the folk manner and folk way of life in detail. Keesokshi's subject matter is the folklike in general including local features, geography, climate, local production, humanity, social conducts, and daily labor for living as well. By its material characteristics, Keesokshi reflects detailed life conditions of the society members in each levels, and represents the local customs as well as the folk emotions. Among the several kinds of Keesokshis, a Sesi Keesokshi focuses only in reciting the folk customs on each seasonal festival days, and the great numbers of such serial poems appear during the latter part of the Jeosun Dynasty. Its overall background is the transition of artistic trend which came after many social changes such as expansion of realism, uprising national consciousness, shaken status system, and the rising of 'Jeosunsi' motives in the Hansi history. Moreover, each writer's various experiences and their interests in the reality and critical minds of common people contributed a crucial roll in creation of Sesi Keesokshi. 178 of the 584 remaining serial Sesi Keesokshi are written particularly about the folk customs in The Grand Full Moon Festival (the first full moon of a year by the lunar calendar). These Hanshis widely reflect the common ways of living by directly accepting the seasonal folk customs as the subject matters. Especially, close to the reality, these poems positively express the people's simple vigorous lives and create unrestrained lively image by describing the joys and sorrows of the folk existence along with their craving. Also, it is notable to have customs such as 'Shil-Ssa-Um' and 'No-gu-ban-kong-yang' as subjects for its rarity in other literatures.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.145-181
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• 2020

This study analyzes type variations of the 'stepmother' and 'sister' in the full-length novels of Park Kyong-Ni and attempted to point out their meanings. The pattern of "negative stepmother" that appeared in classical and new novels also appeared repeatedly in Park Kyong-Ni's full-length novels and this was because a change took place in later full-length novels. Novels analyzed with focus were Jaegwiyeol(1959), Eunha(1960), Kimyakgukeue Ddaldeul(1962), and Nabiwa Unggungkwi(1969). The stepmother that appears in Eunha is a type that appears often in the classic and new novels of Korea. While the stepmother newly gained the role and status of 'mother', she forms a competitive relationship with the daughter of the former wife while still refusing to be a member of the family and she puts the former wife's daughter in critical situations by committing misdeeds. However, the young stepmother in Nabiwa Unggungkwi actually becomes a victim to the malicious and morbid harassment of the former wife's daughter. This stepmother is a good-natured figure who shows a sense of guilt for failing to fulfill her responsibilities of upbringing and education and she eventually dies as a victim to a bomb during the war, leaving her young biological daughter behind. On one hand, the sisters in Jaegwiyeol and Kimyakgukeue Ddaldeul are not strongly bonded but when one is caught in a crisis, the other one claims to be of help. Unlike this, the sisters in Nabiwa Unggungkwi have a bond that cannot be broken. They are half-sisters that bind each other so severely that they hinder each other's growth and they eventually end up disintegrating. Through such analyses, it is shown that issues of human nature are dealt with more acutely by breaking the 'young stepmother' away from convention by placing her in the position of the victim to amplify the conflicting relationship between sisters, unlike in previous pieces. This study was significant in that it looked into how previously repetitive character type changes appeared in full-length novels in conditions that clearly display the writer's determination to leave behind a masterpiece.

• Korea Science and Art Forum
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• v.20
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• pp.315-326
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• 2015

This study has started from a curiosity about how the concept and characteristics of mise en abyme, which is one of meta-discourse in the contemporary aesthetics and has affected every aspect of modern philosophy, art, and culture, are expressed in modern architecture. 'Mise en abyme' is a technique mainly used by writers of the nouveau roman after it was introduced first in the work of novelist Andre Gide; this technique of artistic expression has been extended across the whole contemporary art and has become the meta-discourse which essentially makes its appearance in the art after postmodernism. 'Mise en abyme', meaning endless formation of image between two mirrors, got involved with discourse of the various philosophers of the time such as Deleuze and Derrida, and was also expressed in the language of architecture by modern architects who have been influenced by their philosophy. In this context, the technique of mise en abyme which is mostly used in art has a relation to methods of space expression of architects. This research studied the characteristics of mise en abyme which show in the expressional method of the modern architecture based on the relationship between the technique of mise en abyme and the modern method of architectural expression. Moreover, on the basis of this an analysis was carried out on architectural works of Jean Nouvel, who uses de-materialization and singularity as the architectural language. Through the research it was confirmed that the characteristics of expression of mise en abyme in architecture are embodied in material of the surface which forms buildings' exterior, or expressed by using reflection and graphical factors. Through analysis this study allows the chance to see that even though the means and field for expressing mise en abyme are different, the characteristics of the fundamental concept are shared among them, and to think about the meaning in the technique of mise en abyme as one yardstick to understand modern architecture in modern times with no specific mainstream.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.96
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• pp.239-260
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• 2019

This paper examines the circulation and dissemination of painting during and after the nineteenth century through a case study on the One Hundred Fans paintings produced as decorative folding screens at the time. One Hundred Fans paintings refer to depictions of layers of fans in various shapes on which pictures of diverse themes are drawn. Fans and paintings on fans were depicted on paintings before the nineteenth century. However, it was in the nineteenth century that they began to be applied as subject matter for decorative paintings. Reflecting the trend of enjoying extravagant hobbies, fans and paintings on fans were mainly produced as folding screens. The folding screen of One Hundred Fans from the collection of the Museum am Rothenbaum Kulturen und Künste der Welt (hereafter Rothenbaum Museum) in Germany was first introduced to Korean in the exhibition The City in Art, Art in the City held at the National Museum of Korea in 2016. Each panel in this six-panel folding screen features more than five different fans painted with diverse topics. This folding screen is of particular significance since the National Museum of Korea holds the original drawings. In the nineteenth century, calligraphy and painting that had formerly been enjoyed by Joseon royal family members and the nobility in private spaces began to spread among common people and was distributed through markets. In accordance with the trend of adorning households, colorful decorative paintings were preferred, leading to the popularization of the production of One Hundred Fans folding screens with pictures in different shapes and themes. A majority of the Korean collection in the Rothenbaum Museum belonged to Heinrich Constantin Eduard Meyer(1841~1926), a German businessman who served as the Joseon consul general in Germany. From the late 1890s until 1905, Meyer traveled back and forth between Joseon and Germany and collected a wide range of Korean artifacts. After returning to Germany, he sequentially donated his collections, including One Hundred Fans, to the Rothenbaum Museum. Folding screens like One Hundred Fans with their fresh and decorative beauty may have attracted the attention of foreigners living in Joseon. The One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum is an intriguing work in that during its treatment, a piece of paper with the inscription of the place name "Donghyeon" was found pasted upside down on the back of the second panel. Donghyeon was situated in between Euljiro 1-ga and Euljiro 2-ga in present-day Seoul. During the Joseon Dynasty, a domestic handicraft industry boomed in the area based on licensed shops and government offices, including the Dohwaseo (Royal Bureau of Painting), Hyeminseo (Royal Bureau of Public Dispensary), and Jangagwon (Royal Bureau of Music). In fact, in the early 1900s, shops selling calligraphy and painting existed in Donghyeon. Thus, it is very likely that the shops where Meyer purchased his collection of calligraphy and painting were located in Donghyeon. The six-panel folding screen One Hundred Fans in the collection of the Rothenbaum Museum is thought to have acquired its present form during a process of restoring Korean artifacts works in the 1980s. The original drawings of One Hundred Fans currently housed in the National Museum of Korea was acquired by the National Folk Museum of Korea between 1945 and 1950. Among the seven drawings of the painting, six indicate the order of their panels in the margins, which relates that the painting was originally an eight-panel folding screen. Each drawing shows more than five different fans. The details of these fans, including small decorations and patterns on the ribs, are realistically depicted. The names of the colors to be applied, including 'red ocher', 'red', 'ink', and 'blue', are written on most of the fans, while some are left empty or 'oil' is indicated on them. Ten fans have sketches of flowers, plants, and insects or historical figures. A comparison between these drawings and the folding screen of One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum has revealed that their size and proportion are identical. This shows that the Rothenbaum Museum painting follows the directions set forth in the original drawings. The fans on the folding screen of One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum are painted with images on diverse themes, including landscapes, narrative figures, birds and flowers, birds and animals, plants and insects, and fish and crabs. In particular, flowers and butterflies and fish and crabs were popular themes favored by nineteenth century Joseon painters. It is noteworthy that the folding screen One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum includes several scenes recalling the typical painting style of Kim Hong-do, unlike other folding screens of One Hundred Fans or Various Paintings and Calligraphy. As a case in point, the theme of "Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden" is depicted in the Rothenbaum folding screen even though it is not commonly included in folding screens of One Hundred Fans or One Hundred Paintings due to spatial limitations. The scene of "Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden" in the Rothenbaum folding screen bears a resemblance to Kim Hong-do's folding screen of Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden at the National Museum of Korea in terms of its composition and style. Moreover, a few scenes on the Rothenbaum folding screen are similar to examples in the Painting Album of Byeongjin Year produced by Kim Hong-do in 1796. The painter who drew the fan paintings on the Rothenbaum folding screen is presumed to have been influenced by Kim Hong-do since the fan paintings of a landscape similar to Sainsam Rock, an Elegant Gathering in the Western Garden, and a Pair of Pheasants are all reminiscent of Kim's style. These paintings in the style of Kim Hong-do are reproduced on the fans left empty in the original drawings. The figure who produced both the original drawings and fan paintings appears to have been a professional painter influenced by Kim Hong-do. He might have appreciated Kim's Painting Album of Byeongjin Year or created duplicates of Painting Album of Byeongjin Year for circulation in the art market. We have so far identified about ten folding screens remaining with the One Hundred Fans. The composition of these folding screens are similar each other except for a slight difference in the number and proportion of the fans or reversed left and right sides of the fans. Such uniform composition can be also found in the paintings of scholar's accoutrements in the nineteenth century. This suggests that the increasing demand for calligraphy and painting in the nineteenth century led to the application of manuals for the mass production of decorative paintings. As the demand for colorful decorative folding screens with intricate designs increased from the nineteenth century, original drawings began to be used as models for producing various paintings. These were fully utilized when making large-scale folding screens with images such as Guo Ziyi's Enjoyment-of-Life Banquet, Banquet of the Queen Mother of the West, One Hundred Children, and the Sun, Cranes and Heavenly Peaches, all of which entailed complicated patterns. In fact, several designs repeatedly emerge in the extant folding screens, suggesting the use of original drawings as models. A tendency toward using original drawings as models for producing folding screens in large quantities in accordance with market demand is reflected in the production of the folding screens of One Hundred Fans filled with fans in different shapes and fan paintings on diverse themes. In the case of the folding screens of One Hundred Paintings, bordering frames are drawn first and then various paintings are executed inside the frames. In folding screens of One Hundred Fans, however, fans in diverse forms were drawn first. Accordingly, it must have been difficult to produce them in bulk. Existing examples are relatively fewer than other folding screens. As discussed above, the folding screen of One Hundred Fans at the Rothenbaum Museum and its original drawings at the National Museum of Korea aptly demonstrate the late Joseon painting trend of embracing and employing new painting styles. Further in-depth research into the Rothenbaum painting is required in that it is a rare example exhibiting the influence of Kim Hong-do compared to other paintings on the theme of One Hundred Fans whose composition and painting style are more similar to those found in the work of Bak Gi-jun.