| Title |
Analysis of Expressive Features and Structural Meanings in Korean Men's Furniture of the 19th century |
| Keywords |
Korean furniture ; Confucianism ; Traditional aesthetics ; Semiotics ; Structural meaning |
| Abstract |
This paper aims to examine the fundamental relationship of what principles cause the aesthetic shapes in Korean sarangbang furniture of the 19th century. Focusing on the Greimas' isotopic and semantic structure analysis, this research analyzed the traditional Korean men's furniture in four steps; signifier analysis, isotopic analysis, semantic structure analysis, and comprehensive interpretation. The results show that the expressive qualities of sarangbang furniture included visual symmetric aesthetics, and the hues of natural materials with dark tones. The manufacturing process emphasized the characteristics of natural materials; while diversity was respected in decorations, function as restrained form was also important with a concise image. Through these characteristics, sarangbang furniture revealed a balance, a harmony of contrastive elements, and a restrained aesthetics. Within these qualities, it was seen that aesthetic principles, such as "severance and communication," "artifice and nature," "restraint and manifestation," "toughness and softness," "filling and emptying" and "decoration and utility" were in a mutually supplementary relationship. At the basis of this aesthetic thought appears to be Confucianism, which had been the model for seonbi politics and scholarship. |