Abstract

Kim, Il-Yeob is the representative writer of early-modern literature in Korea. She instituted the problem of modernity and feminity in modern Korean literature as a dimension of the sexuality. At first, her 'Women's Liberation Movement' was based on the rationality of Enlightenment. She prescribed the vice of society at that time as the problem of patriarchy, and presented the feminist vision as substitute. She tried to pursue the way to solve women's problem in social dimension. In early days, her 'Women's Liberation Movement' showed the side face of social movement. But immediately, it confronted with a problem of woman's body as sexual liberation. It means that the chastity is important. By her 'Argument about new chastity', she tried to solve the problem of women's sexuality as its returning to the psychological dimension. It is 'the Pursuit for the romantic love' which intends to posit the basis of the women's being upon man as the Other. That intention ultimately came to distort the relations between woman's sexuality and the modem subjectivity. After this, she tried to settle this conflict by means of the doctrine of Buddhism. But this efforts could not show a practical phase and came to personal salvation as a result. She failed to show the practice in the Women's Liberation because of her addiction to romantic love.