The Value of Hangeul Horizontal-Vertical Mixed Typesetting in the 1960s and 70s

Abstract

Background Hangeul typesetting can be managed both in horizontal and vertical directions, and this is originally a flexible characteristic of Hangeul, one in which the cultural background of Chinese characters and the phonetic quality of the Roman alphabet are combined. The current use of Hangeul only in the horizontal direction causes many limitations in terms of diversity and expandability. The clue to the diversity of Hangeul typesetting can be found in the examples of horizontal-vertical mixed typesetting in the 1960s and 1970s before South Korean society's complete transition to horizontal typesetting. In this period, while printing and publishing technologies and industries began to grow in earnest with the clear purpose of post-war projects to reestablish the country, the conventional vertical typesetting and new horizontal typesetting were mixed flexibly and diversely depending on the types and purposes of publications. This study could help to find the basis and opportunity for the balanced and flexible use of Hangeul both horizontally and vertically by analyzing the backgrounds and typesetting cases of this time period. Methods In order to examine the possibility of using Hangeul both horizontally and vertically, the time period was largely divided into the gradual transition period (1945-1999) and the mixed typesetting period (1957-1979) based on historical evidence and data, the backgrounds of society, politics, science, technology, culture, and art, all of which were examined in each period to analyze the characteristics of the mixed typesetting that emerged in publications at the time. Results The background of the complete transition to horizontal Hangeul typesetting was examined largely through three aspects: the academic community’s different debates on the exclusive use of Hangeul in South Korean publications, which was promoted by the Ministry of Education after Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule; the development of speed-oriented horizontal typewriters for efficiency and social demand; and how Western design, which was rapidly introduced to South Korea in the midst of industrial growth, influenced the understanding of writing systems and the editing methods in the printing and publishing industries. This study examined what specific limitations the complete transition to horizontal typesetting left in terms of typography and visual perception, and analyzed through case studies the characteristics of horizontal-vertical mixed typesetting found in printing & publishing industries in the transitional period. In the development of lead type, which started in the mid-1950s, there were cases of considering both horizontal and vertical typesetting at the same time. This study specifically examined how the editing of publications was conducted for different groups of readers, and how mixed typesetting developed according to the editing. Mixed typesetting showed different characteristics depending on the forms of publications, such as books and periodicals. Finally, based on the results of the analysis, there was an attempt to interpret what these characteristics meant in terms of diversity. Conclusions Cases of mixed typesetting in the 1960s and 1970s and their characteristics could be defined as small efforts to handle the flexibility of Hangeul in a more South Korean way on the pages of publications even in a time where the usage of writing systems was rapidly changing. Also, there were traces of how people carefully tried several editing methods. This provides significant insight into the conventionalized typesetting used today, which is only carried out horizontally.