KOREASCHOLAR

This study was intended to outline the characteristics of the food culture in the area of Kyungsangnamdo and its modernization by interpretation and analysis of the novel Toji, which was set in Hadong, Jinjoo in the area of Kyungsangnamdo in the early 20th century. The characteristics of the Kyungsangnamdo area's native dish during the Japanese ruling era in the latter half of the Choson dynasty are as follows. In the first part of the novel, which spans from 1897 to 1908, vegetable and grain food development can be seen in the area of Hadong, the interior plains of Kyungsangnamdo, where there is a typical farming village in the mountains. The second part of the novel, which spans from 1911 through 1917, includes some mentions of the properties of Kyungsangnamdo area's native dishes through the lens of emigrated Koreans living on Gando island. Gando island is in China, and is where Seohee, the heroine, escapes from her homeland and remains for a period of years. There is a unique type of seafood in the Gando area using fresh marine products, exactly the same as in the Kyungsangnamdo area. The third part of the novel spans 1919 through 1929, after Seohee returns to her own country and regains her house. There is a noticeable description of food culture in the area of Jinjoo in Kyungsangnamdo through the description of Seohee focusing on the education of her children. The well-described features of Jinjoo are boiled rice with soup of beef leg bones and Jinjoo bibimbob, with vegetables and a variety of foods using cod. Cod are caught in large quantities in Kyunjgsangnamdo, and cities in the area grow to medium size as the area became traffic-based. The fourth part of the novel spans from 1929 through 1938, and includes very detailed descriptions of characters and background locations. Salted fish combined with the wild ingredients of Mt. Jiri feature prominently in the Kyungsangnamdo's area descriptions. The fifth part spans from 1940 through 1945, and as the Japanese colonization era ends, the foods described in Kyungsangnamdo seem to develop the usage of soybean paste. With abundant fish and shellfish Kyungsangnamdo, the dishes that evolve to use soybean paste include mussel soybean paste soup, picked bean leaves in soybean paste, chaitgook - cold soup from soybean paste, and seolchigook used with seaweed and sea laver.

• 김미혜 | Kim, Mi-Hye
• 정혜경 | Chung, Hae-Kyung