Sinsoseol (
Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...
: 신소설,
Hanja
Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom.
(, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...
: 新小說), literally "new novel" or "new fiction," was a type of
Korean novel which began and grew during the
Korean Empire, in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was sometimes referred to as ''gaehwagisoseol'' (Hangul: 개화기소설), or "enlightenment fiction."
Occurrence
The enlightenment (''gaehwagi'' 개화기) changed Korean people's thought greatly. Some writers who wanted to enlighten people also appeared. Publishers imported modern printers so that they could sell many more books.
Contents
Usually, the contents of sinsoseol highlight enlightenment, or
modernization. Encouragement of education, exploding old customs and superstitions, and criticism of corrupt officials are common themes of sinsoseol.
Major writers
* Yi In-jik (이인직): ''Hyeorui nu'' (혈의 누, Tears of blood), ''Gwiui seong'' (귀의 성, Ghost sound; 1906), ''Eunsegye'' (은세계, Silver world; 1908)
* Yi Hae-jo (이해조): ''Jayujong'' (자유종, Bell of liberty; 1910)
* Ahn Guk-sun (안국선): ''Geumsuhoeuirok'' (금수회의록, Proceedings of the animal meeting; 1908)
Fall in popularity
Sinsoseol was eventually replaced by
modern novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
s.
References
* {{in lang, ko 한국민족문화대사전 (Ethnic Korean Culture Dictionary)
Joseon dynasty works