In Donghak, an awareness of Hanul in all aspects of life awakens spirituality and vitality in human beings and begins to heal the world. Dong-yup Shin determinedly searched for a literary re-contextualizing of this thought of Donghak to reestablish oppressed people as the subject of history. This article examines such an attempt in “The Talking Ploughman’s Earth,” Shin's debut work. The singularity of this poem lies, especially, in how it embodies the spirituality and vision of Donghak through the narrative of a rite of passage. By passing through Donghak’s initiation rite, Ploughman, the narrator of this poem, acquires spiritual subjectivity and gains the key to world healing. Finally, his adventure encounters the philosophy of the history of Donghak, which tries to transform the ‘here and now’ into a site of hope, and with this, it secures the possibility of restoring the subjective puissance of the people.

• 김희정(명지전문대학) | Kim, Hui-jeong (Myongji College)