Deotjitgi

Deotjitgi is a creative method of adding new scenes and meanings to earlier literary works, legends, historical records, folk songs, narratives, visual images, and cultural memory.
Deotjitgi is not the repetition or imitation of an existing work. It creates an independent new work by layering present experience, new observation, and a new perspective upon a preceding work or inherited cultural memory.
Deotjitgi connects past works with present creation, reinterprets cultural memory in the language of the present, and establishes a creative dialogue with preceding works.
Within the four conceptual axes of Korea Haiku, Deotjitgi represents the axis of memory and transmission.

Korea Haiku is a literary form that embodies Korean nature and everyday life, memories of place, and cultural transmission within a brief fixed form. Its creative practice may engage not only with present observation but also with earlier literary works, local legends, history, folk culture, and personal or communal memory.
Creative work based on inherited materials must, however, be clearly distinguished from simple repetition, imitation, or unauthorized appropriation. A distinct concept is therefore required to explain how a poet may respect a source while adding present experience, a new perspective, and new meaning.
Deotjitgi is established as an official Korea Haiku creative concept that connects past works with present creation and renews cultural memory in contemporary language.
It provides a theoretical foundation for establishing a creative dialogue with preceding works, inheriting local legends, history, folklore, and everyday culture, and giving a poem temporal and cultural depth.

Deotjitgi was formulated to explain the creative principle by which Korea Haiku works form new scenes and meanings upon preceding works and cultural transmission.
The Korean expression Deotjitgi conveys the idea of “creating anew by adding upon what already exists.” Deot does not mean a simple addition; it indicates the formation of a new relationship between inherited memory and present experience. Jitgi refers to the act of shaping that relationship into an independent new work.
Within the conceptual structure of Korea Haiku, Gyejeolmal represents the axis of time, Gyeotmal the axis of scene, Ulteomal the axis of place, and Deotjitgi the axis of memory and transmission.
Deotjitgi does not reproduce or merely rephrase a preceding work. It enters into dialogue with the scenes, people, places, emotions, and cultural memories of the source and transforms them into an independent work through present observation, sensory experience, and new interpretation.
The term was proposed by KIM SUSEONG and submitted by An SooHyun. It is established as an official Korea Haiku concept following review by the Terminology Establishment and Review Committee.

Deotjitgi has been used in the creation, education, criticism, and study of Korea Haiku to explain a creative practice based on earlier works and cultural memory.
Its official definition, functions, applicable source materials, example, and source-attribution principle were systematized in the Korea Haiku Federation publication Official Glossary of Core Concepts in Korea Haiku, where Deotjitgi is identified as the axis of memory and transmission among the four concepts of Gyejeolmal, Gyeotmal, Ulteomal, and Deotjitgi.
Deotjitgi has the following principal functions:
First, it connects past works with present creation.
Second, it reinterprets cultural memory in the language of the present.
Third, it establishes a creative dialogue with preceding works.
Fourth, it inherits local legends, history, folklore, and everyday culture.
Fifth, it gives a work temporal and cultural depth.
Materials that may serve as a basis for Deotjitgi include:
Classical and modern poetry
Legends and folktales
Regional narratives and oral traditions
Historical events and records
Folk songs and other songs
Paintings and photographs
Novels and essays
Personal and communal memory
A representative example is a new work created from the memories of Bongpyeong, buckwheat fields, and moonlit night in Lee Hyo-seok’s When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom:

Buckwheat field path
Moonlight passes first
The sound of white wind

The work may be understood as Deotjitgi when it does not repeat the source but adds a new present-day scene, sensory experience, and perspective to its literary and cultural memory.

1. Deotjitgi is not a method of repeating or imitating a preceding work or cultural memory.
2. It must form an independent new work by adding present experience, new observation, interpretation, scenes, and meanings to the source.
3. The preceding work or cultural material on which a Deotjitgi work is based must be clearly identified.
4. Directly quoted expressions must be distinguished from newly created passages.
5. The wording, structure, or central imagery of a source must not be used without attribution in a manner that may be confused with imitation or unauthorized appropriation.
6. Deotjitgi may be based on classical or modern poetry, legends, folktales, historical records, songs, paintings, photographs, novels, essays, and personal or communal memory.
7. A source should serve as a creative point of departure rather than as a model to be reproduced in its entirety.
8. The historical and cultural context of the source should not be distorted, nor should the identity of the original author or nature of the material be misrepresented.
9. The relationship to the source should be acknowledged, but the new observation, experience, and meaning of the resulting work must be evident.
10. When the memory of a particular place in a preceding work becomes central, Deotjitgi may operate together with Ulteomal.
11. Gyejeolmal may establish seasonal time, Gyeotmal may expand the surrounding scene and senses, and Ulteomal may evoke accumulated place-memory within a Deotjitgi work.
12. The official Korean spelling is 덧짓기, written as a single word.
13. In English-language materials, Deotjitgi should be used as the primary name in order to preserve the distinctive Korea Haiku concept. Creative Recomposition may be added as an explanatory translation.

When Deotjitgi is used as an official Korea Haiku creative concept, or when its definition, functions, source materials, and principles are cited or used in academic articles, books, lectures, educational materials, media reports, online publications, or digital content, users are encouraged to identify the relevant official record and document number in Malmaru 말마루, operated by the Korea Haiku Federation.
When publishing a Deotjitgi work, the preceding work or cultural material on which the new work is based must be clearly identified.
Any directly quoted expression must be distinguished from newly created language, and the original author, title, source, and relevant bibliographical information must be accurately provided.
Recommended citation: Korea Haiku Federation. “Official Terminology Record of Deotjitgi.” Malmaru 말마루: Official Terminology, Declarations & Historical Records. Document No. KHF-MALMARU-YEAR-NUMBER, proclamation date.
Source material for Deotjitgi: Lee Hyo-seok, When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom.

Proposed by: KIM SUSEONG
Submitted by: An SooHyun
Reviewed by: Terminology Establishment and Review Committee
Approved by: Korea Haiku Federation
Proclaimed by: Korea Haiku Federation