• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.62
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• pp.227-255
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• 2020

This paper aims to explore the nature of the making of speaking subject in early Korean Protestantism, focusing on the educational spaces for women. Traditional women could become a speaking subject through various educational programs provided by Protestantism in modern Korea. Especially three kinds of educational space played the crucial role of making women a speaking subject. The first was Bible class established for women in rural areas. Since most Korean women were unable to read and write, Protestant churches taught them Hangul[Korean alphabet] before teaching the Bible. Korean women studied the Bible in Bible class, Women's Bible School, and Women's High Bible School. Through this education, traditional women were liberated from the world of ignorance and obedience, and then become a speaking subject. The second was speeches and discussions that have emerged in institutional spaces such as mission schools for girls and women's organizations. Students at mission school were able to learn how to express their opinions by way of public speaking and discussion classes. Women were able to become speaking subjects in the process of learning such techniques of modern language. At that time, representative discussion spaces were Lee Mun-hoe, Joyce Chapter, and YWCA. The third was testimony and dialect. Unlike sermons and public prayers, which were only allowed to male elites, testimony and dialectics are a form of speech that transcends gender or status constraints. Especially in the space of the revival movement, women confirmed their dignity through active testimony, and their religious identity was strengthened in the process. Dialect also served as the language of liberation for women suffered and alienated from male-dominant culture. Dialect is a device that exercises the right to speak against transcendental authority. Furthermore, in Protestantism of early modern Korea, the speaking subject's act of speech was elevated beyond personal matters to social issues, women's issues, and ethnic issues.