Western music and musical elements have played a major role in Korea—not only in the direct performance of Western classical and popular music, but also in the varieties of hybrid mixes and interactions involving Korean and Western repertory, instruments, and stylistic features. From the popular shin minyo and t’ŭrot’ŭ songs that first appeared during the Japanese colonial period to the composer-based art music known as ch’angjak kugak that has flourished in the years since independence, Korea has developed a broad array of music that is distinctly “Korean” and yet also clearly indebted to foreign (primarily Western) music. Among these an increasingly important category is “p’yujŏn” (“fusion”) music, which differs from ch’angjak kugak in its emphasis on commercial appeal and popularity. But while Korean fusion music has been growing in popularity in Korea, and Korean fusion musicians have been making international tours, its reception overseas is not uniformly positive. This article explores the international exposure that Korean fusion music has experienced in recent years and proposes some reasons for its mixed reception. The findings of the article are based on evidence of various fusion musicians’ international tours, international collaborations, availability of recordings abroad, and a small sample of reactions by non-Korean audiences to Korean fusion music by Seulgidoong (Sŭlgi-dung), Samul Nori, Sagye, Kang Eunil/Haegum Plus (Kang Ŭnil/Haegŭm P’ŭllŏsŭ), and others. The paper seeks to uncover what aspects appeal to foreign audiences and what aspects are disliked. Central to the ambivalent reactions is a combination of orientalist expectations and a sense that some hybrid mixes use harmonic clichés, grating or shrill timbres, or overly sentimental arrangements. Individual tastes differ even among audience members of similar backgrounds, but it seems that foreign audiences are more likely to be drawn to traditional kugak than to Korean fusion music, seeing the latter as inauthentic and shallow, even though many Koreans find traditional kugak to be strange, boring, or linked to a past they feel they have long left behind and therefore would prefer fusion as the Korean music of the present.
목차
Abstract INTRODUCTION PERFORMING ARTS AND CULTURAL DIPLOMACY INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE OF MUSIC FROM KOREA INTERNATIONAL CONCERT AND TOURS KOREAN DISCOURSE ON KOREAN FUSION MUSIC FOREIGN RESPONSES TO KOREAN FUSION MUSIC CONCLUSION APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY
한국연구원은 1970년 5월 한국 민속의 각 분야에 걸친 자료의 수집과 학술적 연구를 목적으로 '한국민속연구소'로 출발하였다. 그 후 1973년 5월 연구 분야를 확대하며 민속뿐만 아니라 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 위해 '한국학연구소'로 개편하였고, 다시 1989년 3월 한국의 국제적 위상의 부상과 함께 한국학 연구의 중요성이 높아짐에 따라 '한국학연구원'으로 확대, 개편하였다. 한국학연구원은 한국학 전반에 걸친 연구를 통해 지역과 민족문화 발전에 기여하며 한국학의 세계화를 위해서 학술활동을 강화하고 나아가 내·외국인에 대한 한국문화 교육을 담당하고자 한다.