• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.37
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• pp.33-60
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• 2018

This article is to present that the research on the Mudang Gut Chum should be within the context of the performance of Mudang Gut and examines its meanings and implications with focus on Seoul Mudang Gut Chum and Hwanghae-do Mudang Gut Chum. Seoul and Hwanghae-do Mudang Gut Chums do not exist in the form of simple dance or movement. They feature continuity while serving the function of revealing the existence of spirit and sometimes show the process of the spirit joining the Gut ritual, which means that the Mudang Gut Chum should not be understood as the dance itself only. Instead, care attention should be paid to the status of the tune of Gut where the dance is placed, relationship between the gut and the spirit, and the flow of narrativity. Also, the Mudang Gut Chum has a lot to do with the tune. Looking at the Mudang Gut Chum simply focusing on dancing steps, and the movement of feet and/or hands fails to gain an accurate understanding of the fundamentals of the Mudang Gut Chum. Closely connected to the tune, which is also associated with the grade of the spirit, the dance shows a variety of performances conducted by entering the Gut ritual of the spirit. In that respect, complex views on the Mudang Gut Chum are required. The same applies to the hereditary shaman Mudang Gut as well. The Korean Mudang Gut Chum has a slight difference between the Gangshinmu gut and the hereditary gut but is in basically the same aspect. The Gut Chum holds its meaning in the flow of gutgeori (tune or dance performed during exorcism, a shaman song) and delivers its own meaning in connection with the tune. It is definitely meaningful to focus on the individual movements of a dancing shaman but one should be able to derive the network of meanings that such movements have within the performance of the gutgeori, which means that intensive studies on the field performance and circumstances should be completed before studying the Mudang Gut Chum. In addition, the Mudang Gut Chum discloses the characteristics of the performance group. The Mudang Gut Chum exists in a complex manner. With respects to the status of the spirit, it shows the characteristics of the performance group. It represents the progress of Gut while closely connected with the tune. Therefore, the way of describing the Mudang Gut Chum should be far more than just simply keeping the dance notations. With this in mind, one should investigate and record the Mudang Gut Chum.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.42
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• pp.233-256
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• 2021

The purpose of this article is to understand the characteristics and meanings of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum, or shamanic ritual dance. First, the characteristics of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum are summarized as follows. The regular dances that appear in all pieces of Gutgeori or the tune of Gut of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum feature Geosangchum, followed by domu and heojeonmu in the sequential order. The accompaniment rhythms are Geosang rhythm, Chum rhythm, and Yeonpung rhythm. The dance featuring mugu, or shaman implements held on shaman's hand as part of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum, which symbolizes the characteristics of deities, is the same as domu aligned with the dance rhythm and the whirling dance aligned with the Yeonpung rhythm. The name of mugu, mubok (shaman clothing) and/or deities may be used as the name of Gutchum but there is no originality of Gutchum. The Beokgu Chum and Samhyeon Chum as part of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum use Beockgu Jangdan and Samhyeon Jangdan, which deserves to have their originality acknowledged. Hwanghae-do Gutchum is closely related to the rhythm. The harmony of janggu player and a female shaman is essential in practicing the Hwanghae-do Gut. If a janggu player fails to perform to properly support the gut practice of a female shaman, the shaman is not able to proceed with a smooth practice and causes confusion. On the other hand, if the gut performance of a female shaman fails to catch up with the performance of janggu, the gut becomes plain and simple at best. Janggu is the single most important element that determines the success or failure of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum. A female shaman takes the harmony and collaboration with a janggu player so seriously that she is willing to reschedule the practice of gut if its schedule does not match that of the janggu player. The Hwanghae-do Gutchum is largely dependent on gyeolrye. However, the difference between the chum and the rhythm caused by gyeolrye has disappeared due to the intangible cultural assets. That is, designating an intangible cultural asset has resulted in eliminating all distinctive characteristics of Hwanghae-do Gutchum. With the distinction of gyeolrye becoming vague, they have lost interest in the genealogy of gut they have learned. It is no longer gyeolrye but the intangible cultural property system that serves as an important factor to distinguish chums.