Abstract

This study reexamines Yi Deok-mu (1741–1793) as a “social reader” and analyzes the formation of his work Cheongbirok through the theoretical lens of “interpretive communities.” While traditional literary history often emphasizes individual genius, this paper argues that literary innovation emerges through complex networks of social interaction, material conditions, and collaborative meaning-making. By tracing how Yi’s personal reading practices intersected with his various interpretive communities—including his immediate intellectual circle in Joseon, cross-border networks with the Qing literati, and the broader East Asian publishing culture—this study reveals the profoundly social nature of literary production in late Joseon Korea. The research makes three primary contributions. First, it demonstrates how Yi’s reinterpretation of Wang Shizhen’s shenyun aesthetic was not merely passive reception but an active process of cultural translation mediated by multiple interpretive communities. Second, it analyzes how the flexible pilgi (miscellaneous writings) format facilitated new modes of knowledge dissemination and literary interpretation within these communities. Third, it examines Yi’s distinctive critical vocabulary centered on “lucidity” (cheong), showing how his aesthetic framework developed through dialogic engagement with both Chinese literary concepts and local interpretive contexts. By examining the social dimensions of literary development in late Joseon, this study challenges conventional models of literary influence and contributes to broader scholarly conversations about reader response theory, cross-cultural literary exchange in East Asia, and the material conditions of knowledge production. It reveals Cheongbirok not as an isolated achievement but as the product of an interconnected network of readers, writers, and texts that collectively shaped new directions in Korean literary history.