IMPRESSION OF KOREAN GEOGRAPHIC NAMES THROUGH GEUMO SINHWA AND GIJJAEKIYI

Abstract

    Geumo Sinhwa (New Stories of the Golden Turtle) (by Kim Si-seup) and Gijjaekiyi (by Shin Gwang-han) are two popular narrative story collections in Korea. Studies of the stories of these two collections showed a significant impression of geographic names. The mention frequency of names of mountains, rivers, temples, local regions... is relatively high. In some stories, geographic names are even used for character names. The presence of geographic names in narrative stories carries a lot of means, including (1) expression of the majestic and beautiful landscapes of Korea, (2) conveying the deep love for the homeland of the authors, and (3) expression of the rich and profound of Korean’s spiritual life, respectively.