The South Korean government preserves traditional arts at the national, city and provincial levels, through Munhwajae Pohobŏp (Cultural Property Preservation Law), with the aim of preserving the wŏnhyŏng (original form). Specifically, it designates the relevant properties and, for the Intangible Cultural Properties the relevant artists, as “Poyuja (Holder).” However, the government’s intention behind the cultural policy is not often realized in the actual performance context. To address this, I examine how local artists perceive the wŏnhyŏng (original form) in the case of a local art from South Kyŏngsang Province: T’ongyŏng Ogwangdae (Mask Drama of T’ongyŏng). The existing literature on cultural policy in South Korea tends to deal only with the tense relationship between the national government and local artists, focusing more on government acts than on the response of local artists. This research concentrates on illuminating how local artists perceive the original form, in comparison with the investigator(s) for designation. For the Intangible Cultural Properties, the government sets forth as a premise that it can discover “nativeness” in the sector of “folklore” from Korea. In the case of the music of the Mask Drama of T’ongyŏng, the investigators define the original form as the oldest surviving form that, in their perception, has local features. However, the local artists regard it as the original, functionally-intended form, focusing more on “functional intention” that on “physical form.” From this perspective, they show differences from the oldest surviving version in terms of tempo and rhythms. If their essentialism is involved in stronger essentialism, there will be a danger that the governments and the local artists will become estranged and the relationship between them become difficult. To prevent this danger, and to enable them to coexist, I argue that ethnomusicologists might play a positive role as mediators.
키워드
Munhwajae Pohobop (Cultural Property Preservation Law)wonlryong (original form)T'ongyong Ogwangdae (Mask Drama of T'ongyong)kulkeoriessentialism
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.