Relationship between Progressive culture and arts activities and social transformation

The present article focuses on the cultural arts, the role and functions of people as intermediate to carry out the revitalization of memory. Most of the basic cultural activities and events sparked from the cardinal point of the democratization of Gwangju and the interwoven relationships this created. In other words, the events leading to Gwangju democratization movement have derived from democratic culture and art and they contributed to change and influence South Korea's revolutionary movements. As far as clarifying the concept of culture is concerned, the idea of culture is too wide to encompass it so we aim to narrow it down to the special events of 5.18 democratization movements which launched the national transformation of the cultural stage and the development of democracy in South Korea. Through this, the movement of popular culture and popular arts fostered the revolution of society. Moreover, the value of the 5.18 movement for democratization stems from democracy, human rights, the universal value of peace and so many efforts were made by popular artists until it became upgraded as a national commemoration day. Raising the people's awareness that culture could change the course of history is still necessary so that popular art and culture play a central role in people's lives. In order to fulfill the people's inherent hope it is necessary to promote aesthetic values and a continuous revolution in societal practices.

진보적 문화예술 활동과 사회변화의 상관성 -광주민주화운동을 중심으로-

본 논문은 문화예술이 갖는 '기억의 재생과 잠재된 변화 욕구에 대한 민중들의 의지를 불러내는 매개자'로서의 기능과 역할에 주목하였다. 진보적 문화예술 활동이 광주민주화운동을 기점으로 사회변화의 기폭제가 되었다는 판단에서 이들 사이의 상관성을 살펴보고자 하였다. 다시 말해 광주민주화운동을 기점으로 조직화된 민중문화 혹은 민중예술이 한국사회의 변화에 어떠한 영향을 주었는지 확인하고자 한 것이다. 문화에 대한 정의는 너무 광범위하여 특정할 수는 없지만 여기서 문화는 5.18민주화운동이라는 특정한 사건에서 시작하여 한국 민주주의 발전이라는 사회변화의 지속 과정에 치열하게 참여했던 일련의 행위에 초점을 맞추고자 했다. 그런 점에서 민중문화운동과 민중예술인들이 한국사회의 문화를 바꾸는데 기여한 바는 충분히 평가되어야 한다고 판단한다.