• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.52
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• pp.5-59
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• 2014

This paper investigates the development and aesthetics of Korean political theatre from its quickening period 1920s to democratization era 1990s. Political theatre before 90s developed an antithesis resistant movement toward Korean modern history that had been scattered with suppressing political circumstances such as colonial era and dictatorial government, the movement has powerful activity and social influences. Just like the 20 century political theatre had been quickened under the influence of Marxism at Russia and Germany in 1920s, Korea's political theatre began in socialism theatre movement form around the same time. Proletarian theatre groups had been founded in Japan and Korea, and developed into practical movement with organized connection. However, the political theatre movement in Japanese colonial era was an empty vessel makes great sound but not much accomplishments. Most performance had been canceled or disapproved by suppression or censorship of the Japanese Empire. The political theatre in liberation era was the left drama inherited from Proletarian theatre of the colonial era. Korean Theatre alliance took lead the theatrical world unfold activities based on theatre popularization theory such as 'culture activists' taking a jump up the line and 'independent theatre' peeping into production spot as well as the important event, Independence Movement Day Memorial tournament theatre. Since 1947, US army military government in Korea strongly oppressed the left performances to stop and theatrical movement was ended due to many left theatrical people defection to North Korea. The political theatre in 1960s to 70s the Park regime, developed in dramatically different ways according to orthodox group and group out of power. The political theatre of institutional system handled judgment on sterile people and had indirect political theatre from that took history material and allegory technique because of censorship. In political theatre out of institution, it started outdoor theatre that has modernized traditional performance style and established deep relationship with labor spot and culture movement organizations. Madangguek(Outdoor theatre) is 'Attentive political theatre', satirizing and offending the political and social inconsistencies such as the dictatorial government's oppression and unbalanced distribution, alienation of general people, and foreign powers' pillage sharply as well as laughing at the Establishment with negative characters. The political theatre in 1980s is divided into two categories; political theatre of institutional system and Madangguek. Institutional Political theatre mainly performed in Korea Theatre Festival and the theatre group 'Yeonwoo-Moudae' led political theatre as private theatre company. Madangguek developed into an outdoor theatrical for indoor theatre capturing postcolonial historical view. Yeonwoo-Moudae theatre company produced representative political plays at 80s such as The chronicles of Han's, Birds fly away too, and so on by combining freewheeling play spirit of Madangguek and epic theatre. Political theatre was all the rage since the age of democratization started in 1987 and political materials has been freed from ban. However, political theatre was slowly declined as real socialism was crumbling and postmodernism is becoming the spirit of the times. After 90s, there are no more plays of ideology and propaganda that aim at politicization of theatre. As the age rapidly entered into the age of deideology, political theatre discourse also changed greatly. The concept 'the political' became influential as a new political possibility that stands up to neoliberalism system in the evasion of politics. Rather than reenact political issues, it experiments new political theatre that involves something political by deconstructing and reassigning audience's political sense with provocative forms, staging others and drawing discussion about it.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.40
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• pp.307-344
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• 2010

Cultural Studies built on the critical mind of New Left exposes the relationship between culture and power, and investigates how this relationship develops the cultural convention. It has achieved the new perspective that could make us to think culture and art in terms of political correctness. However, the critical voices against the theoretical premises of Cultural Studies have been increased as its heyday in 1980s was nearly over. For instance, Terry Eagleton, a former Marxist literary critic, declared in 2003 that the golden age of cultural theory is long past. This essay, therefore, intends to show the weak foundations on which the approaches of cultural studies to theatre rest and to clarify the general problem of their introduction to theatre studies. The approach of cultural studies to theatre takes the form of 'top-down inquiry' as it applies a theory to a particular play or historical period. In other word, from the theory the writer moves to the particular case. The result is not an inquiry but rather a demonstration. This circularity can destroy the point of serious intellectual investigation as the theory dictates answers. The goal-oriented narrow viewpoint as a logical consequence of 'top-down inquiry' makes the researcher to favor the plays or the parts of a play that are proper to test a theory. As a result it loses the fair judgment on the artistic value of a play, and brings about the misinterpretation. The interpreter-oriented reading is the other defect of cultural studies as it disregards the inherent meaning of the text, distorting a play. The approach of cultural studies also consists of a conventionality as it arrives at a stereotyped interpretation by using certain conventions of reasoning and rhetoric. The cultural theories are fundamentally the 'outside theories' that seek to explain not theatre but the very broad features of society and politics. Consequently their application to theatre risks the destructive criticism, disregarding the inherent experience of theatre. Most of, if not all, cultural theories, furthermore, are proven to be lack of empirical basis. The alternative method to them is a 'cognitive science' that proves scientifically our mind being influenced by bodily experience. The application of cultural materialism to Shakespeare's is one of the cases that reveal the limits of cultural studies. Jonathan Dollimore and Water Cohen provide a kind of 'canonical study' in this application that is imitated by the succeeding researchers. As a result the interpretation of has been flooded with repetitive critical remarks, revealing the problem of 'top-down inquiry' and conventional reasoning. Cultural Studies is antipodal to theatre in some respect. It is interested chiefly in the social and political reality while theatre aims to create the fiction world. The theatre studies, therefore, may have to risk the danger of destroying its own base when it adopts cultural studies uncritically. The different stance between theatre and cultural theories also occurs from the opposition of humanism vs. antihumanism. We have to introduce cultural theories selectively and properly not to destroy the inherent experience and domain of theatre.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.40
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• pp.207-237
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• 2010

Concentrating on the birth, life, and death of the Living Theatre, almost half a century avant-garde group, the primary purpose of this study at large is to explore its counter-cultural philosophy. While taking a chronological form adapting the biological order, the paper focuses on the troupe's productions: , , , , and . Through out these productions the philosophy of the Living Theatre seemed to included communal, anti-intellectual, politically radical, generally Utopian, and proselytizers for sexual freedom. The history of the Living Theatre interestingly parallels the history of the Beck's theatre in occupation and shut down. The first New York theatre was closed by fire inspectors for instance. The second theatre was declared unsafe, and locked up by the Building Department. The third theatre was seized by the IRS, consequently shut down. In 1984, after more than 25years from the third building, the Living Theatre settled once again on East Third Street in Manhattan. The theatre was however evacuated by the New York City Fire Department in 1993 and once more took to the road. With these struggles, the Becks' profound aspiration of the counter-cultural insurgency came to harden as strong as 'iron' in some ways. With the outstanding components of counter-cultural philosophy and style, the Living Theatre, in the course of the transformation, absorbed and then reflected virtually every phase for the Living Theatre were vehicles for more than just aesthetics. The group seemed to propagandize its beliefs rather performing productions. Accordingly, both on and off-stage action of the Living Theatre caused great controversy either through political activism of individual members or through the unconventional collective life style. No avant-garde theatre company was more emblematic of the rebellious spirit of the sixties than the Living Theatre. Like the first great transformation, the Becks' encounter, their personal values and the form of theatre they created had blended 'so inextricably that the vitality of each was dependent on the other.' The Becks always urged unity and harmony at all levels of human life, but not at any price. The anticapitalist ideal inspired the Becks to promote a politically motivated campaign throughout their productions. They believed the revolution is desirable but in the state of non-violence and the expansion of human consciousness. Julian Beck's gravestone identifies his as pet, painter, actor, and anarchist. The Living Theatre was a 'small umbrella' under which the Becks and its members could breath and unfold their dream on stage or in the street.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.48
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• pp.289-332
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• 2012

In this paper, based on the theory of performance studies and community-based theatre, I venture to explicate the socio-political significance of director Yim Jin-Taek's community-based performance called 'madanggut', which is heavily based on elements of indigenous culture. Yim's madanggut utilizes elements of indigenous cultures and searches for 'the Korean ethnic (arche)type' as 'the ideal Korean type' or 'genuine Korean-ness' for the reconstruction of 'the Korean ethnic community.' This paper interrogates the major task of Yim Jin-Taek's madanggut, which ideologically promulgates the idea of ethnocentric patriarchy supported by the traditional (mainly Confucianist) notion of 'community' - inquiring if this type of theatre can provide useful and practical prospects for imagining a more democratic and plural civilian society in Korea today, when the interaction of globalization, nationalism, regionalism, and localism simultaneously impact our everyday life and cultural identification. Regarding the recent global phenomenon of the resurgence of nationalism, I looked at madanggut's use of symbolic resources from the past for imaginative communal bonding as a nation. But, the claimed homogeneity of the national past by means of 'nation conflation' of different social groups is an illusionary conceptualization, and the national historiography silences memories of the marginalized groups and denies their histories. It is certain that in Korea nationalism has historically performed an important function during the colonization and democratization period. Nevertheless, as Yim's Nokdukkot realized, it cannot be overlooked that as a representative of 'the Korean ethnic community,' 'the protecting man/the sacrificial woman' is contradictory to the plural and lateral thinking of participatory democracy in community-building. It is time to think about a new political language that relates individuals to the community and nation. 'The ethnic type' cannot represent the whole nation and the members of the nation should be the examples of the community they belong to for a more democratic society. I have selected Yim's several community-based works mainly from the 1970s to the 1980s since the works provide grounding images, symbols, metaphors, and allegories pertinent to discussing how 'the Korean ethnic community' has been narrativized through the performances of madanggut during the turbulent epoch of globalization. I hope that this paper presents Yim's grounded aesthetics of community-based theatre with fully contoured critical views and ideas.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.21
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• pp.189-211
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to 1)examine the current state of cultural studies in Korea with a focus on recent discourses about its 'crisis' and 2)attempt to find some ways out of these dilemmas in drama/theatre/performance studies. As Raymond Williams redefined 'culture' as 'a whole way of life,' performance studies has expanded the boundary of 'performance' from traditional performing arts onto almost everything that can be studied and analyzed 'as' performance. Performance is not only the final product on display but a whole process that includes training, workshop, and rehearsal of culture. According to Richard Schechner, workshop and rehearsal are the most critical and creative 'liminal' phases that allow traditional knowledge and alternative challenges to coexist in conflict and intentionally delay the final decision by putting itself in a perpetual process. From this view, this essay attempts to find an-no matter how limited and temporary-answer to or a possible exit from political and theoretical aporias of cultural studies.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.49
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• pp.171-208
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• 2013

Site-specific performance is always the real on-site work taking place at the site. Hence, it deals with the reality, in other words, the time of creation and formation. And it creates value and meaning through the interaction and continuous direct communication process between the performers, audience and the local residents. In this performance, the audience's status as the passive observer changes. They become the co-agent who actively lead and complete the performance through their own experience. We have examined the The Working Methods of Site-specific Performance and Aesthetics of Effect through four Korean performances ; Marie, An aesthetic experiment of site as the storyteller; Heterotopia and Urban Movement Research or Play: We Will Move Your Sofa, as performances which have Revealed history, politics, institution engraved in the site ; A Song of Mandala and Miracle, as a ritualistic site-specific performance at the historic site. Some remarks on Site-specific performance ; First, In Site-specific performance, the habitus peculiar to the stage art and the mode of reception are changed. Second, a new mode of theatrical communication requires creator and audience to have a sharp aesthetic sensibility and to change one's perceptual habit. Third, Site-specific performance can act as a demonstration for the viewpoints of political activism through what could be called a dramatic close-up effect. Fourth, Site-specific performance also has the risk of merely becoming an unfocused and scattered performance or degenerating into a pseudo-sightseeing. To avoid this, an in-depth study of the site and its socio-cultural context, and the clear motivation with which one is trying to reveal and tell from the site must be indispensable. As the co-agent, the audience should also be aware and think about what the given performance signifies today.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.52
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• pp.159-188
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• 2014

Under the influence of postmodernism, modern writing tends to refuse an immediate conveyance of messages achieved by linear, unified writing. Such writing does not attempt any social participation and has no leading ethics, offering diverse perspectives. It simply relies on material property ignoring the 'here and now'. This discussion depends on the sensuous immediacy of works that are pure and uninterpretable, causing the "death of author" phenomena. Although the time was late, since the 1990s, discussion and work on deconstructive theater has been executed in the Korean theater world. This deconstructive work was achieved when lineal narratives were shattered through the shocking insertion of fragmentary episodes and imagery. Moreover, such plays were shocking presentations of severance in conversation; lack of communication; loss of pride and love; and a world devastated by violence and madness. In the 2000s, such a movement helped form a new paradigm in the theater through reinterpretation and parody of traditional dramas, while drawing general attention to postmodern theater. However, as the problems of postmodern theater are perceived through study, the limit of plays with a postmodern tendency is pointed out: such plays merely display 'deconstruction'. This thesis will examine reflective thought on postmodern theater seeking "deconstruction without alternatives" and the aesthetic concept of "le politique" by Jacques Ranciere. It will also look through the overlap of images as interval-estrangement, "lettre morte", and simulacre representing mise-en-scene aesthetics weaving "political writing". This study is meaningful in that it tries to extend the new aesthetic horizon of Korean theater, examining in 2009 and by Koh Sun-Woong in 2011, directed by Park Chung-Hee in 2010 and directed by Park Keun-Hyung in 2009.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.26
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• pp.249-272
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• 2012

Diaspora studies has become one of the fastest growing field in the humanities over the past several decades, and the use of term diaspora has been widening to include almost any population on the move. Diaspora literature not only mirrors but actively incorporates this new notion of diaspora with characters "at the threshold" navigating new territories and identities. Querying how diaspora studies intersects with theatre and performance, this paper attempts to probe how recent Korean American drama parallels and promotes diaspora studies' radical departure from traditional notions of identities and territories. For this purpose, this essay 1) examines theoretical affinities between diaspora studies and performance studies 2) investigates how Sung Rno's plays, Cleveland Raining and wAve, explore and embody multiple and evolving meanings of Korean diaspora on the stage 3) examines how theatre can create the third space that transcends both Korean and American nationalism and 4) speculates possibilities of reframing Asian American Studies as Asian diaspora studies. Korean American characters in Rno's play redirect diasporic identities, as their concern gradually moves from "where I come from" to "where I go to." Instead of remaining in the dark as a mere spectator, both Rno and his characters choose to be 'on' the stage where they can imagine, perform, and realize (however temporarily) "unimaginable community" by confronting their own social, political, and cultural ambivalence. Stage, the threshold between reality and fiction, Korea and America, and past and future, becomes their true 'home' where they incubate and precipitate "nation in transformation" that Yan Haiping argues for as "another transnational."

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.49-56
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• 2006

Urban cmmunity films have achieved the industrial modern society's idiosyncrasy Popular films have achieved the industrial growth through city as the completion of modernization. They also have represented the social meaning of urban space, and have expanded 'their political space' This filmic challenge showed diverse negative factors which were the poor's economical difficulties, the relative robbery of their education and job, and adhered class in city through developing the urban space with were hidden beyond modernity's splendor.

• Journal of Korean Theatre Studies Association
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• no.48
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• pp.127-170
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• 2012

The primary concerns of this thesis simply stems from the curiosity of how the playwright Kim Jihoon lookouts a peculiar change of our spiritual, physical world. His lately work, , deals with a tribe of mixed blood who are either not shared by, or excluded from a national system, putting the writer's emphasis on some hints that informs us his outlook on the world. And these hints summon the following doubts. What is the significance of constituting a national community in this age, particularly in the time when the end of national people is frequently being referred? In strengthening national compositions, can the national identity be a pivotal element and central mechanism? Can the identity be able to exercise the hegemonic functions containing the political rights of decisions? Does the identity still dominate the various collective bodies such as genders, races, regions, professions, generations and classes etc? Finally, as the manifests, can the national identity be a desirable alternative that may cease both confusions and disorders evoked by the collision of heterogeneity? To find the answer, the study starts from a search for the origin of the complexities immanent in the mixed blood. The terror syndrome and the ambiguous identity, both residing outside the border of normality, will characterise the origin. Then I will focus both on the tribe's desperation itself and their present hope, in order. A myth of creating a country, making history and nationalism, all these are converged in their resistant ideology. This thesis ends with no clear conclusion, and yet suggesting the three presumptions the text insinuates: nomadism, a new barbarism, and the heterogeneity that awaits for our re-reading, and hoping that the three will lead the 'being-to-come' of the tribe, as an alternative of their future.