The purpose of this study is to analyze the reciprocal dynamics of canons and emotions to build the nation in Korean literary education during the national curriculum. To achieve that goal, I have investigated the middle class literary education curriculum made by national government, modern novels in Korean language textbooks, and syllabuses of learning activity. In results, I found the novels to make a nationalistic and patriotic emotions in 3th literary education. At that time, to be a nation is armed with the patriotism and the mobilized passion by learning novels selected by government. That trend was continued the next 4th curriculum, but the signs of gradual changes showed. 5th and 6th curriculums established the basic direction of nowadays literary education. First of all, the lists of canons started to show distinct changes. However, the national education plan of the modern nation-state is unchanging system, and the literary education also can not completely escape such a situation. An attribute of citizens has been added to the nation in literary education, but eventually the ultimate personality of an institutional literary education. In that viewpoint, I could find the phenomenon of special canon group formed from 6th to nowadays. Modern novels dealing with the latter era of choseon dynasty, the Japanese colonial period, Korea War, and the division situation give us an impression of Korean ethnic group and nation. In this regard, the novels dealing with the family narrative have been particularly preferred in the field of literary education. That resulted in a special canon group. Textbooks have been made to read the family narratives with the emotion of fraternity. Fraternity is the direct emotional device to build the nation-state, and is the key device to build the ambivalence of nation and citizen. That demonstrates that the project of building nation in literary education has been more strategically evolved.