This research was conducted on traditionalism poetics and its aspect in the liberation period (1945-50). Chungmunhyup (the young literary men’s association of the right wings) very interested in the problem of traditionalism poetics in addition to a debate about pure poetry with the left wing. Especially, in case of poetry, Chungmunhyup researched native language and ‘the typical things of Joseon.’
Yun Gon-gang who was independent from Chungmunhyup, started the first discussions about tradition’s value in the liberation period. Yun Gon-gang was the first person to distinguish between traditions and old customs. In particular, he had a lot of interest in the recovery of Korean native language. Also, he discussed the problem of traditional native language through Sijo (時調). He suggested the classic Sijo of Yun Seon-do as an example of past tradition which should be handed down, and suggested the modern Sijo of Jo Un as an example of the creation of a new tradition.
Chungmunhyup’s writers also tried to promote the value of native language and showed extraordinary attention to the traditional literature of Joseon like Yun Gon-gang’s poetics. But they pointed out the abuse of dead language in Yun Gon-gang’s poetical works “Flute”. They exceeded the limits of Yun Gon-gang who modestly understood the problems of tradition in aspects of poetic words. As an example, Jo Yeon-hyeon argued that not only the succession of forms but also the succession of contents in classics. He recognized that classics are not the past things that need to be imitated but the current era’s assignment which need to be created in the future. Such assignment of ‘modernization of the classics’ appeared in common in the poetics of Kim Dong-lee, Jo Ji-hun, Seo Jeong-ju, etc. Chungmunhyup’s writers emphasized aesthetic transformations which reinterpret the material, rhythm, emotion of traditional poetry by modern artistic style. They approached from the point of view of interaction between old things of Joseon and modern things.
Chungmunhyup’s writers had a consensus about their native language and the value of Joseon tradition, but, internally, they had different opinions about problems relating to ‘oriental tradition’. Jo Ji-hun created discourses on ‘Orient－the spiritual culture－lyric poetry’ as opposed to ‘Western－material civilization－non lyric poetry’. Kim Dong-lee emphasized the poetic tradition of the orient without having interest in the Joseon tradition. They had ethical confidence without compromising with the Greater East Asia logic in the late of Japanese colonization era (of Korea). So they put forward oriental poetry’s tradition without hesitation in the liberation period. In contrast, Seo Jeong-ju in the liberation period criticized or ignored the value of oriental poetry while emphasizing the tradition of Joseon poetry. Like this, Oriental discourses of the liberation period cannot be free from problems of past colonization.