ISSUE THIRTEEN
Fall 2002
Contents:
• From the President
• SEM 2002 in Estes Park
• Minutes of 2001 AKMR Meeting
• Korean Music Papers Presented at Conferences
• Abstracts of Papers (SEM 2002)
• Publications
• News from AKMR Members
\
YouYoung Kang, Editor
Music Department
Scripps College
1030 Columbia Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711 USA
ykang@scrippscollege.edu
From the President
This will be my last “From the President” column, and I am delighted to be able to look back over a two-year term that has seen such flourishing times for the Association. The annual meeting of our parent organization, the Society for Ethnomusicology, has included substantial numbers of quality papers by our members as well as perfor-mances of Korean music at both Toronto and Detroit. The Seeger Prize for the best student paper presented at the 2000 SEM conference went to Joshua D. Pilzer for his paper on the Korean Demilitarized Zone. There has also been a strong Koreanist presence at conferences of the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research (CHIME) in Venice and Sheffield, while the first conference on Korean music ever to be held outside Korea took place at the University of Hawaii in February 2001. And with the publication of the East Asia volume of The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music in December 2001, we acquired what is undoubtedly the most comprehensive single source of information on Korean music in English. My best wishes go to my successor for an even more prosperous and rewarding term of office.
It will be a good time for me to take a back seat in the Association as I prepare for a change of employment and a transatlantic relocation. I have accepted a position as Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the University of Sheffield, and will be forsaking sunny Florida for the misty hills of northern England, close to my home town of Manchester. As of January 2003, I will join Chinese music scholar Jonathan Stock in an ethnomusicology program with a strong East Asian emphasis and close links to an East Asian studies department headed by Korean religion specialist James Grayson. I also look forward to collaboration with Keith Howard at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. I can only hope that getting me back will compensate the Old Country in some small way for losing our past president Robert Provine when he returned to the States!
Because of the demands of my upcoming move, I have been forced to withdraw from this month’s SEM conference in Estes Park, Colorado. This decision was made with the greatest reluctance, for once again the Korean offerings are rich. Besides a number of individual papers on Korean topics, a Saturday morning panel on “The Role of Traditional Music in Korean Nationalism” will be followed by the AKMR business meeting chaired by your new president. I wish everyone involved the greatest success, and though circumstances don’t allow me to join you, my heart will be with you!
Andrew Killick
President
akillick@mailer.fsu.edu
October, 2002
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SEM 2002 Meeting in Estes Park
AKMR Annual Meeting
Saturday, October 26
12:15-1:15 pm
Korean Music Papers
Saturday, October 26, 8:30 am
“Multi-Faced Mask: Presentation and Representatin of Hahoe Mask Dance-Drama in the Context of Tourism,” Sun Hee Koo (University of Hawaii-Manoa), Session 6B: Cultural Critiques on Musical Tourism in Asia
Saturday, October 26, 9:30 am
“The People Defeated Will Never Be United: Ideology and Practice in North Korean Music,” Keith Howard (School of Oriental and African Studies), Session 6F: Music in the Shadow of Communist Ideology
Saturday, October 26, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Session 7G: The Role of Traditional Music in Korean Nationalism
“Redefining Korean Music and Culture: A Case Study of the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (NCKTPA),” Eun-young Jung (University of Pittsburgh)
“Ch’angjak t’aak: Samul nori and the Expression of Korean Cultural Identity,” Nathan Hesselink (Illinois State University)
“Individual Tradition and National Tradition: Making Traditional Music in Korea,” Eunkang Koh (St. Cross College, University of Oxford)
Saturday, October 26, 1:30 pm
“Music, Movement and Space: Articulating the Madang and P’an in the Practice of Korean P’ungmulkut,” Donna Lee Kwon (University of California–Berkeley), Session 8G: Creative and New Approaches on Music and Space/Place
AKMR 2001 Meeting Minutes
October 26, 2001
1. Message and Announcements from the President, Andrew Killick
2. Korean Papers at SEM 2001 conference
3. Other Conferences
a. 2001 University of Hawai’i – first ever conference dedicated to Korean music research outside of Korea
b. 7th Annual CHIME conference, Venice c. [Conference at] George Washington University in D.C. with Robert Provine, Han Mun-suk, and Hwang Byungki
4. Publications
a. Contemporary Dimensions by Nathan Hesselink
b. Garland Encyclopedia of Music, Vol. 7 – coming out at the end of the year
5. Members missing at this year’s meeting: Okon Hwang (decided to deliver a baby rather than a paper this year!)
6. Financial Report
Expenses:
Mailing of October 2000 Newsletter: $48.24
Copying and mailing of May 2001 Newsletter: $76.95
2000 AKMR prize: $50.00
Total: $175.19
Income:
Membership dues: $180
Dividends: $246.09
Total: $426.09
Balance as of October 10: $1,335.49
7. Members-at-Large
a. Currently serving: Heather Willoughby, Nathan Hesselink, and Joshua Pilzer;
One position open: Heather Willoughby re-elected for two years
b. Discussion concerning Members-at-Large
c. Motion by Andy Sutton concerning procedure for selecting Member-at-Large; Motion Seconded by Nathan Hesselink; Unanimous Vote
8. Officer Prize Committee
a. Last year headed by Nathan, with committee of three need someone to head this year’s committee
b. Andy brought up the problem that other Members-at-Large are both students – thus the potential of a conflict of interest exists in judging Andrew makes announcement of 2000 AKMR Paper Prize: Josh Pilzer given certificate and award announcement will be made in general SEM business meeting
c. Josh self nominates himself to head AKMR Paper Prize (since he cannot participate two years in a row; Second[ed by] Andy; Unanimous Vote
9. Announcement of availability of forms and procedures for prize
10. Other News and Announcements
Nathan suggested updating available Korean bibliographies. For instance, Song Bang-Song has amassed a huge bibliography in Korean, but it is not current in English. Non-Korean language articles and books should also be included on Korean music website. Nathan volunteers to head the project.
11. Introductions to who we are and what we are doing: Andrew Killick, Josh Pilzer, Simon Mills, Andy Sutton, Jin-Woo Kim, Sun-min Yoo, Eun-Young Jung, Hilary Finchum-Sung (and Dahin), Kum, Myosin Kim, Sunghye Joo, Young-min Yu, Heather Willoughby
Submitted by Heather Willoughby
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Korean Music Papers Presented at Conferences
6th Pacific and Asia Conference on Korean Studies (Seoul, South Korea)
“Internationalization of Korean Culture and UNESCO’s Recognition of Intangible Cultural Heritage”
(Dawnhee Yim)
“Creating a ‘Global’ P’ansori” (Chan E. Park)
1st World Congress of Korean Studies (Seungnam, South Korea)
“East-West Encounters in the Nanjang: The Sound World of Kim Duk Soo’s SamulNori and Red Sun Group” (Nathan Hesselink)
“ ‘Living Human Treasures’ From a Lost Age: Current Issues in Cultural Heritage Management” (Keith Howard)
“Reconstructing Icons: The Recording Industry and the Representation of Folk Music in Korea” (Roald Maliangkay)
Other Presentations
“Life Imitating Art: P’ansori and the Sôp’yônje Effect” (Nathan Hesselink at University of Illinois, 2002)
“Musical Syncretism and the Korean Percussion/Jazz Interface” (Nathan Hesselink at the University of London, SOAS, 2002)
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Abstracts of Korean Music Papers at SEM 2002
“The People Defeated Will Never Be United: Ideology and Practice in North Korean Music”
Keith Howard (School of Oriental and African Studies)
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) has survived considerable turmoil during the last decade, with the loss of many socialist partners, a series of ‘natural disasters’ and the death of its founding president, Kim Il Sung. Ideology, concerned with the maintenance and development of ‘revolutionary socialism’ remains largely intact, and most casual observers write that North Korea is, as a consequence, stagnating. Musical discourse, however, shows signs of subtle change. Songs now promote the late president, but play down chimerical notions of bumper harvests. Lyrics describe reconstruction, no longer the building of a nation out of the ashes of the Korean War, but reconstruction for a new revolution. The avant garde has been reinstated with the reopening of the Isang Yun Music Study Institute. And, as the autocratic core weakens, some reflections on the past are being tolerated in an apparent effort to reinstate Korean identity above the brotherhood of global socialism: ‘improved traditional instruments’ are finally being heard in public recitals, and several books of folksongs have been republished. Pieced together from interviews, meetings, and observations from two fieldwork trips, I explore how performers, scholars and composers work within the limitations imposed on them.
“Ch’angjak t’aak: Samul nori and the Expression of Korean Cultural Identity”
Nathan Hesselink (Illinois State University)
With the advent of samul nori - an urban South Korean “traditional” percussion genre - in the late 1970s, Korean percussion took a bold leap forward into a then unknown future. At the localized level, samul nori initially signaled the transfor-mation of a rural folk tradition steeped in shamanist practices for concert-hall audiences. From a broader perspective, however, it paralleled movements in the larger traditional music world with the coming of age of ch’angjak kugak, or “newly-composed traditional music.” Both genres had similar motivational goals, namely, a move toward a more nationalistic music (rejecting elements from the west) and the drawing on indigenous folk and religious materials for creative inspiration. While the aims of both musical styles would overlap and diverge over the subsequent decades, the specific fusion of the two realms into a new category, ch’angjak t’aak (newly-composed percussion music), did not occur until the 1990s. Recordings released in 1993 and 1999 by two of the most well-known and active samul nori-based ensembles, Durae Pae Samulnori and Puri respectively, point the way to the next new direction in Korean percussion. References to non-Korean compositional approaches and rhythms on both recordings show a move away from nationalistic tendencies of the 1970s, however, there remains the desire to express an “ideal music” for the performers and audiences of their particular time, a desire to express a distinctive Korean cultural identity (after Chae 1998). This paper will explore this relationship at both the social and musical levels.
“Redefining Korean Music and Culture: A Case Study of the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (NCKTPA)”
Eun-young Jung (University of Pittsburgh)
In this paper, I will examine the ways in which Korean culture has been shaped through the cultural policies carried out by the most important cultural institution for Korean performing arts, currently named Gukrib-Gukakwon, the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. Originally named Eumseongseo (The Royal Music Institution), the institution is said to have existed as early as 651 A.D., where its function was to serve the interests of the royal court. During the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945), the institution, renamed Yi-Wangjik Aakbu (The Royal Korean Music Institution of the Yi Dynasty), was restructured in order to displace the power of the Korean courts and to serve Japan’s colonial regime. After the Korean War, the Korean government took control and renamed the institution Gukrib-Gukakwon (the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts or NCKTPA) in 1951. The institution became part of a burgeoning nationalistic movement to restore and promote Korean culture.
I will trace the changes in the institution’s ideology, cultural function, and musical activities during three periods - court culture, Japanese colonization, and Korean nationalism - in order to understand its role in defining Korean music and culture. I will address the institution’s main roles: 1) performance, education, and preservation during court culture 2) reorganization of cultural practice under the Japanese colonial regime 3) restoration, modern education, publications, and recordings under the new Korean nation. These shifts in cultural policy and practice demonstrate the significant role the NCKTPA has played in relation to Korea’s cultural and political history.
“Music, Movement and Space: Articulating the Madang and P’an in the Practice of Korean P’ungmulkut”
Donna Lee Kwon (University of California–Berkeley)
Though inroads have been made in exploring the nexus between music and space/place (mainly by geographers, anthropologists and popular music scholars), this area remains largely under-theorized within the field of ethno-musicology. In this paper however, I propose to give some attention to this nexus in the practice of Korean p’ungmulkut (farmer’s band ritual music and dance) of the Honam Jwado Imshil Pilbong regional style (hereafter referred to as Pilbong p’ungmulkut). Pilbong p’ungmulgut is practiced in an extraordinary variety of spaces: on the road from one place to another, in the inner courtyard of a house, in outdoor urban amphitheatres, and on rare occasion on stage. I propose to focus on a few of these spatial settings, analyzing how space can govern the presentational format, expressive content, social dynamics and overall character of a given realization of Pilbong p’ungmulkut.
In order to fully understand the rich nuances of music and space in Korean folk expressive culture however, one must also take into consideration the related notions of the madang and p’an. The madang and p’an literally refer to a “traditional courtyard” or “central square” but are often evoked as multidimensional frames bearing spatial, temporal and communal social meanings. Drawing on Doreen Massey’s view that space must be considered integrally with time and social relations, I believe that this study holds much potential for ethnomusicological inquiry in expanding upon a limited and physically-bounded notion of space. I also intend to examine the role of movement in defining a spatial soundscape.
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Notes from the Editor:
The abstract for “Individual Tradition and National Tradition: Making Traditional Music in Korea” by Eunkang Koh (St. Cross College, University of Oxford) was not available at the time of publication.
I have retained the romanizations of Korean words used by the contributors.
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Publications
Hesselink, Nathan, “Book Review of Song Bang-song’s Korean Music: Historical and Other Aspects,” World of Music 44: 239-42 (2001).
_____, “Modernization, Urbanization, and the Re-emergence of the Professional Korean Folk Musician,” Han’guk Ûmaksa hakpo (2002, forthcoming).
Howard, Keith, articles on Korean composers Hwang Byungki, Kang Sukhi, Kim Chunggil, Kim Kisu, Kim Sunnam, Kim Young-dong, Lee Chan Hee, Lee Youngja, Pagh-Paan Younghi, Paik Byung-dong, Suh Kyungsu, and Yi Sung Chun, in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. (London: MacMillan, 2001).
_____, “Mode as a scholarly construct in Korean music,” in The Ratio Book, edited by Clarence Barlow, pp. 176-197 (Köln: Feedback Studio Verlag, 2001).
_____, “Lee Hye-Ku and the Development of Korean Musicology,” in Exploring the Origin of Homo Koreanus, pp. 303-319 (Taegu: Academia Koreana of Keimyung University, 2002). Also published in Acta Koreana 5 (2002): 77-99.
_____, “Exploding Ballads: The Transformation of Korean Pop Music,” in Global Goes Local: Popular Culture in Asia, edited by Tim Craig and Richard King (Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 2002).
_____, “Living Human Treasures from a lost age: current issues in cultural heritage management,” in Embracing the Other: The Interaction of Korean and Foreign Cultures (Songnam: Academy of Korean Studies, 2002).
_____, “Seoul Blues: the determinants of emotion in Koran music,” in Kugakhak nonmunjip, pp. 907-933 (Seoul: Minsogwon, 2002).
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News from AKMR Members
Hilary Finchum-Sung was awarded a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Indiana University in July 2002. Her dissertation titled "Uri Saenghwal Umak: Music, Discourse, and Identity in South Korea" examined the musical and discursive activities of ch'angjak kugak composers, and how they, and other kugak professionals, attempted to locate their compositions within Korean music tradition. Hilary is currently the Center for Korean Studies Postdoctoral Fellow at U.C. Berkeley.
Andrew Killick is moving to England to start in January 2003 as Lecturer in Ethno-musicology at the University of Sheffield.
Heather Willoughby writes: I graduated in May. My dissertation is called: “The Sound of Han: P’ansori, Timbre, and a Korean Discourse of Sorrow and Lament.” I am now working as an adjunct professor at three different universities in New York City (Columbia University: Masterpieces of Western Music Humanities; Hunter College: Worlds of Music; Brooklyn College: World Civilizations – East Asia). I am in the process of writing two papers, hoping to soon resume my p’ansori lesson with Moon Ok-ju.