KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY

@article{ART001348286},
author={ R. ANDERSON SUTTON },
title={KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY},
journal={Acta Koreana},
issn={1520-7412},
year={2009},
volume={12},
number={1},
pages={27-52},
doi={10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002},
url={http://dx.doi.org/10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002}

TY - JOUR
AU - R. ANDERSON SUTTON
TI - KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY
T2 - Acta Koreana
PY - 2009
VL - 12
IS - 1
PB - 계명대학교 한국학연구원
SP - 27-52
SN - 1520-7412
AB - 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.
KW - hybridity, Korean traditional music (kugak), aesthetics, fusion, reception
DO - 10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002
ER -

R. ANDERSON SUTTON (2009). KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY. Acta Koreana, 12( 1), 27- 52.

R. ANDERSON SUTTON . 2009, “KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY”, Acta Koreana, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 27-52. Available from: doi:10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002

R. ANDERSON SUTTON “KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY” Acta Koreana 12.1 pp. 27-52 (2009): 27.

R. ANDERSON SUTTON . KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY Acta Koreana [Internet]. 2009; 12( 1), : 27-52. Available from: doi:10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002

R. ANDERSON SUTTON . “KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY” Acta Koreana 12, no.1 (2009): 27-52. doi: 10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002

홈 권호 목록 논문 목록 논문 상세

KOREAN FUSION MUSIC ON THE WORLD STAGE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE AESTHETICS OF HYBRIDITY

Acta Koreana

약어 : -

2009, vol.12, no.1, pp.27 - 52

DOI : 10.18399/acta.2009.12.1.002

발행기관 : 계명대학교 한국학연구원

연구분야 : 기타인문학

R. ANDERSON SUTTON¹

¹University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

인용한 논문 수 : 1 서지 간략 보기

초록

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.

키워드

hybridity, Korean traditional music (kugak), aesthetics, fusion, reception

참고문헌(26)

[학위논문] Byeon, Gyewon / 2001 / Ch’angjak Kugak: Writing New Music for Korean Traditional Instruments
[학위논문] Chae, Hyun Kyung / 1996 / Ch’angjak Kugak: Making Korean Music Korean
[인터넷자료] Chŏng, Yugyŏng / Ch’asaedae chŏnt’ong ŭmak kidaeju kkotbyŏl, kŭrim, p’yujŏn kugak ŭl marhanda / Han Kyŏre
[학위논문] Finchum-Sung, Hilary V / 2002 / Uri Saenghwal Ŭmak: Music, Discourse, and Identity in South Korea
[단행본] Finchum-Sung, Hilary V / 2006 / New Folksongs: Shin Minyo of the 1930s In Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave / Global Oriental : 10 ~ 20
[단행본] Hesselink, Nathan / 2001 / On the Road with ‘Och’ae Chilgut’: Stages in the Development of Korean Percussion Band Music and Dance In: Contemporary Directions: Korean Folk Music Engaging the Twentieth Century and Beyond / Institute of East Asian Studies, Center for Korean Studies, University of California : 54 ~ 75
[단행본] Howard, Keith / 2002 / Contemporary Genres In: Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Vol. 7: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea / Routledge : 951 ~ 974
[단행본] Howard / 2006 / Creating Korean Music: Tradition, Innovation, and the Discourse of Identity. Vol. 2 of Perspectives on Korean Music / Ashgate
[학위논문] Hwang, Okon / 2001 / Western Art Music in Korea: Everyday Experience and Cultural Critique
[인터넷자료] Jung, Changkwan / Chŏng Ch’ang-gwan ŭi kugak ŭmban CD Segye
[단행본] Lee,So Young / 1999 / Nanŭn tarŭge tŭnnŭnda.Seoul:Yesol Publisher / Yesol Publisher
[학술지] Lee,So Young / 2003 / Reading New Music in the Age of Fusion Culture / Tongyang ŭmak 25 : 189 ~ 226
[단행본] Lee, So Young / 2005 / Han’guk ŭmak ŭi naemyŏnhwadoen Orient’allijŭm ŭl nŏmŏsŏ / Minsogwŏn
[단행본] Lee, So Young / 2005 / Yi Soyŏng ŭi ŭmak pip’yŏng: saengjon kwa chayu / Minjok Ŭmak Yŏn’guhoe
[학위논문] Lee, So Young / 2007 / Ilche kangjŏmgi Shin Minyo ŭi hongjongsŏng yŏn’gu
[단행본] Lee Young Mee / 1998 / Han’guk taejung kayosa / Han’guk Yesul Yŏn’guso Ch’ongsŏ
[단행본] Lee Young Mee / 2006 / The Beginnings of Korean Pop: Popular Music during the Japanese Occupation Era (1910–1945) In: In Korean Pop Music: Riding the Wave / Global Oriental : 1 ~ 9
[단행본] Park Seung Hee / 2001 / Kugagwŏn ŭi mannŭng chaejukkun: Park Sŭng-Hŭi / Kugak sosik Fall Issue : 10 ~ 13
[단행본] So,Inhwa / 2002 / Theoretical Perspectives on Korean Music: An Introduction / National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts
[학술대회] Song, Hyejin / 2000 / A Stroll through Korean Music History / The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts
[단행본] Song, Hyejin / 2001 / Han’guk akki / Korean Musical Instruments / Youlhwadang Publisher
[단행본] Song, Hyejin / 2002 / Kugak irŏk e tŭrŏ poseyo / Dareun Sesang
[학술지] Sutton, R. Anderson / 2003 / Innovation and Accessibility: Towards a Typology of Fusion Music in Korea / Tongyang ŭmak (25) : 227 ~ 250
[학술지] Sutton, R. Anderson / 2006 / In Search of Korean ‘Feeling’ in Korean Fusion Music: The Role of Rhythm / Acta Koreana 9 (1) : 35 ~ 51
[학술지] Sutton, R. Anderson / 2008 / What’s that Sound? Korean Fusion Music and the Ascendancy of the Haegŭm / Asian Music 39 (2) : 1 ~ 27
[단행본] Yun, Chunggang / 2004 / Kugagi pakkwigo itta / Minsogwŏn