조선 후기 여성 성리학자에 대한 남성 지식인 담론의 구조와 의미 -임윤지당과 강정일당을 중심으로- = The Structure and Significance of Male Intellectual Discourse on Female Neo-Confucian Scholars in Late Joseon -Focusing on Im Yunji-dang and Kang Jeongil-dang

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study aims to examine how women’s scholarly activities were constructed and interpreted within the Neo-Confucian order of late Joseon by analyzing male intellectual discourse surrounding female Neo-Confucian scholars. While previous studies have primarily focused on the ideas and academic achievements of female scholars or on the genealogy of women intellectuals, this study shifts its focus to the structure and logic of male-centered discourse that framed and evaluated them.
To this end, the study analyzes texts written by male intellectuals—including epitaphs, biographical records, and prefaces—centering on Im Yunji-dang and Kang Jeongil-dang. The analysis reveals that male intellectual discourse acknowledged the scholarly achievements of these women, while simultaneously characterizing them as “exceptional figures” or “virtuous women among women.” Their accomplishments were often reduced to the product of family background or environment, or reinterpreted within the framework of female virtue and moral self-cultivation. In this way, women’s scholarship was not denied, yet it was constrained in a manner that prevented its generalization.
This dual evaluation is not merely a reflection of social constraints but is closely related to the theoretical structure of Neo-Confucianism. While Neo-Confucianism emphasizes the universality of human nature at the level of principle (li), it simultaneously justifies hierarchical differences in reality through material force (qi) and the yin-yang order. Within this dual structure, female Neo-Confucian scholars were recognized as evidence of intellectual possibility, yet were interpreted in ways that did not threaten the existing gender order.
As a result, female Neo-Confucian scholars were acknowledged but not generalized, and respected but not institutionalized. Their significance in intellectual history lies not merely in their status as exceptional individuals, but in revealing the tension between the universality of Neo-Confucianism and the gender hierarchy of Joseon society. By examining this tension, this study reinterprets the discursive structure within the Neo-Confucian order and provides a more nuanced understanding of the position of female intellectuals in late Joseon.