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A TRADITION OF APPROPRIATION OF CULTURE FOR POLITICAL GAIN:
MUSIC IN KOREA
by
Alyssa Victoria Mae Wall
A Senior Honors Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The University of Utah
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Honors Degree in Bachelor of Arts
In
History
Approved: ______________________________ Wesley Sasaki-Uemura Thesis Faculty Supervisor
_____________________________ Isabel Moreira Chair, Department of History
_______________________________ Matthew Basso Honors Faculty Advisor
_____________________________ Sylvia D. Torti, PhD Dean, Honors College
May 2016
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ABSTRACT
Although appropriation of music by political organizations and individuals is a
practice in no way unique to Korea, analysis of the phenomenon on the peninsula provides
valuable insight its strength in real-world political arenas. This project provides an analysis
of the appropriation of music for political means in Korea, including discussion of the
historical roots that infuse music in Korea with intrinsic political value, the use of
appropriated music in the development of nationalist consciousness during the period of
occupation by the Empire of Japan from 1910 to 1945, and the continued practice of
appropriation of music in the modern Republic of Korea (South) and Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (North).
Appropriation of music by various political entities on the Korean peninsula mirrors
the development of nationalism in that area. As the international community placed
increasing value on the importance of nationalism, Korean nationalists and politicians used
the rhetoric of shared traditions and ethnicity as a means of creating a politically charged
public. Music was, and remains to this day, an important catalyst for nationalist rhetoric
among the largely homogenous Korean citizenry.
Music also plays an often overlooked, but invaluable role in understanding modern
political incentives and devices in the divided Koreas. However, in order to fully
comprehend the meaning of appropriated music today, one must understand the context
from which the phenomena emerged. This project attempts to provide that context, and to
facilitate further discussion on the use of appropriated music as a political tool.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ii
INTRODUCTION 1
SOLIDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY THROUGH MUSIC: CHOSŎN 4
GROWING CULTURAL NATIONALISM: THE OCCUPATION 11
ARIRANG 14
THE MARCH 1ST MOVEMENT: AEGUKGA 20
THE POSTWAR KOREAS: DPRK, ROK, AND MUSIC 24
CONCLUSION 30
WORKS CITED 33
1
INTRODUCTION
A popular television music program in South Korea, Immortal Songs 2, celebrates
holidays related to South Korean independence through performances of patriotic,
nationalistically-charged songs. Although many of the performed songs originate in the
post-Korean War period of reconstruction, performances of traditional Korean music,
kugak,1 accompany them and acquire a distinctive South Korean nationalist message. The
audience waves Korean flags and sings along, and the performer often prefaces their
performance with an explanation of the history of the selected tune.
Son Woo, a singer who featured on the February 21, 2015 broadcast of Immortal
Songs 2, a special focusing on minyo, a genre of kugak music that roughly translates to
folk music, prefaced her performance of the song “Blue Bird” with a brief explanation of
its origins, focusing on the anti-Japanese subtext of the lyrics.2 However, the true origin
and meaning of “Blue Bird” in its historical context remains a debated issue. Contrary to
Son Woo’s explanation, some scholars interpret the song as possibly anti-Chinese in
origin, particularly considering the importance of the song during the Tonghak Peasant
1 Korean words are Romanized according to the MR system of Romanization, unless left in a familiar adhoc or RR form. Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own. Also, citations of articles published in Korean retain author name pattern of surname-forename, following Korean linguistic tradition. For all other authors, the standard Chicago citation rules apply. In the body of this argument, all names follow the forename-surname pattern. 2 Son Woo 선우, Interview in “[HIT] Pulhuŭi myŏngkok - Sŏnu, p'okpalchŏkimyŏnsŏto ch'ŏngahan koŭm… saeya saeya p'alangsaeya 20150221.”불후의 명곡 – 선우, 폭발적이면서도 청아한 고음… ‘새야 새야 파랑새야’ [Immortal Songs II – Son Woo, an explosive and clear tone, ‘Blue Bird’] YouTube video, 1:05, from a performance televised by KBS on February 21, 2015, posted by “KBSKpop,” February 21, 2015, accessed March 30, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONu10j6fUMI.
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Rebellion of 1894.3 Son Woo’s interpretation of “Blue Bird” represents her contemporary
political context and the use of minyo by the South Korean government as a symbol of its
long-held post-colonial anti-Japanese nationalism – a fundamental basis of its legitimacy.
“Blue Bird” is only one example of many. Throughout modern Korean history,
various political entities and movements sought legitimization and popular support
through the use of music, often using kugak or other traditional musical styles which
conjure a sense of long-shared Korean history. By encouraging association with a
collective national identity in layperson audiences through appropriated traditional music
and musical techniques, political entities charged the public with nationalist fervor based
on a notion of shared culture and facilitated the growth of cultural nationalism on the
peninsula.
The current governments of North and South Korea continue this tradition. They
alter the origin and meaning of various forms of kugak and other forms of traditional
music as a means of presenting their political message as one deeply rooted in history and
thus deserving support by the general population. Today, Korean traditional music
represents “Korean indigeneity, identity, folk spirit, popular spirit, global presence, and
national pride… [and facilitates assertion of the] authority and authorship of
Koreanness.”4 This modern appraisal of the value of kugak epitomizes the ultimate goal
of those appropriating traditional music with political intent – the creation of a unified
3Kim Dohyeong, “Tonghakminyo p’alangsaenolae yŏnku” 동학민요 파랑새노래 연구 [A Study on Blue Bird Song, the Folk Song of Donghak Peasant Revolution], Han’gugŏnŏmunhak한국언어문학 67, (2008): 225-245. 4 Chan E. Park, “Reclaiming Korea from “Korean Performance Tradition”: A Critique of the Contemporization of Kugak,” Korea Studies 35 (2011): 39.
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public with shared common identity willingly supportive of the political agenda. Cultural
nationalism in the divided Koreas, fueled partially by use of traditional music, has, to a
large extent, already succeeded in creating hyper-nationalist citizens. However, an
examination of political movements beginning in the late nineteenth century reveals how
the growth of nationalism and shared identity based on culture and through the medium
of music began on the Korean peninsula long before the post-Korean War period.
Cultural nationalism, or nationalism centered on shared language, music, folk art,
or other distinctive attributes of a community,5 emerged distinctly as a defining element
of individual and national Korean identity6 during, and in the wake of, the thirty-five year
occupation by the Empire of Japan in the early twentieth century. However, the historical
roots of music as a unifier of the Korean public stretch back through the Chosŏn
Dynasty,7 which lasted over 500 years until its destruction by the Empire of Japan in
1910. An examination of the appropriation of traditional music by different political
entities throughout Korean history reveals the efficacy of cultural nationalism through
music in the Korean political sphere. Focus on the development of the concept of
community during the Chosŏn period, the nationalist rhetoric in songs of the Japanese
occupation, and continued appropriation of music for political purposes in the post-war
era reveals the significant role of music in Korean identity and national politics, both
historically and today.
5 Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Ledaers, Movements, and Concepts, s.v. "Cultural Nationalism,” accessed February 25, 2016, http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/estnational/cultural_nationalism/0. 6 Syngman Rhee, Japan Inside Out: The Challenge of Today, (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1941). 7 Shin Yong-Ha, “Social History of Ture Community and Nongak Music (I),” Korea Journal 25, no. 3 (March, 1985): 4.
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Analysis of nationalist political movements and their appropriation of traditional
Korean music during the Japanese Colonial Period provides clear evidence of the concept
of cultural nationalism through music as a useful political strategy on the peninsula.
However, fully understanding the significance of music as a medium to the development
of political legitimacy through cultural nationalist rhetoric requires understanding the
background of music and Korean identity. Significantly, the post-war governments of the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North) and the Republic of Korea (South) use
traditional music, as the nationalist movements during the Japanese occupation did, as a
means of creating unified identity and solidifying popular support. Therefore, study of
appropriated traditional music and the stylistic elements thereof as a political tool
requires analysis of not only the nationalist movements of the Japanese Colonial Period,
but also an examination of the political use of music before and after colonization.
SOLIDIFICATION OF COMMUNITY THROUGH MUSIC: CHOSŎN
The Yi Dynasty administered the Korean peninsula throughout the Chosŏn
Period, from 1392 until annexation by the Empire of Japan in 1910. During that time,
sharp class divisions stratified Korean society. The historical division of Korean society
facilitated the development of many different forms of kugak, including the upper class
chŏng’ak (“correct music”) and lower class minsogak (“folk music”).8 The social
structure of the Chosŏn Period also enabled the development of a unique form of
8 Chan E. Park, “Reclaiming Korea,” 31.
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collectivized farming, ture, and its accompanying form of kugak, nongak.9 Through ture
and nongak, traces of collective activity encouraged by music emerge. The tradition
established by ture and nongak later contributed to the success of other movements
seeking unity and support from the Korean public through music.
Ture communities operated as joint labor teams in the Chosŏn Period, and
developed their own culture and status. Farmers cooperated and worked together,
favoring the community over the individual. Fragmentary records from the Chosŏn
Period reveal the widespread popularity of ture initiatives among farmers across the
peninsula. However, due to the contemporary government’s focus on the activities of the
upper class, exact numbers of ture and their participants are unavailable.10 Nevertheless,
ture activities cultivated a number of developments, including the introduction of mutual
entertainment, efficient labor practices, mutual help, action-driven leadership and
responsibility,11 as well as the concept of finding strength and significance in numbers.
Members of the elite yangban class historically received displays of respect from the
lower classes. However, when a yangban member encountered a turegi (the symbolic
banner of a ture) they, instead, dismounted from their steed and paid their respects. If
they did not do so, they were punished by the ture for disregarding the value of farmers.12
In that way, the Neo-Confucian values of Chosŏn society, wherein each level of society
performed an important and respectable role, empowered participants in the ture. The
9 Shin Yong-Ha, “Social History of Ture Community and Nongak Music (II),” Korea Journal 25, no. 4 (April, 1985): 4-18. 10 Shin Yong-Ha, “Social History of the Ture Community (I),” 8. 11 Shin Yong-Ha, “Social History of the Ture Community (II),” 10-11. 12 Shin Yong-Ha, “Social History of the Ture Community (I),” 12.
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Neo-Confucian concept of reciprocity established that in exchange for farming the land
and providing food, farmers earned protection and recognition for their effors from
yangban. The social position of yangban members, often Neo-Confucian scholars
themselves, and considered most deeply connected to Neo-Confucianism, created a moral
obligation for those in the class to recognize the value of the ture and its members.
This action from members of the yangban class gains particular significance in
discussions of group identity and the foundation of layperson nationalism when one
considers that peasants, through collective action in a ture community, gained status in
Chosŏn society. Community action therefore became a layperson tradition through which
the suppressed members of society found political strength. Unified action in the ture
contributed to feelings of mutual reliance and belonging to a group outside of immediate
family or kinship ties – a preface to the development of nationalism.
Moreover, music of the ture, nongak, played a significant role in establishing the
collective consciousness of the group, providing them with inspiration and encouraging
endurance in the face of hardship.13 Inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the Republic of Korea, and still practiced as a folk-art
today, UNESCO officially recognizes nongak as an art form that “helps to enhance
solidarity and cooperation in the community and establishes a sense of shared identity
among community members.”14 The specific performance style of nongak varies by
13 Ibid., 12. 14 “Nongak, community band music, dance and rituals in the Republic of Korea,” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, accessed May 28, 2016, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/nongak-community-band-music-dance-and-rituals-in-the-republic-of-korea-00717
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regional area, but generally includes a percussion ensemble, use of wind instruments,
dancing, parading, drama, and acrobatics15 by a large group of performers, often
including the audience. Nongak developed from group labor music. It provided rhythm to
the labor, provided farmers with a sense of pride and pleasure about their work, and
supplied free entertainment for both workers and community members.16
Through records of ture and nongak of the Chosŏn Period, early tradition of
solidarity encouraged through music in Korean society emerge. Although not
appropriated, but rather created, by the ture, nongak represents a Korean tradition of
encouraging solidarity and participation of the individual in a community through folk
music. Community-based appreciation of shared musical performances in Chosŏn
naturally extended to politically encouraged cultural nationalism through appreciation of
traditional music, specifically kugak genres like nongak or minyo, during and after the
occupation by Japan.
Nationalism in Korea stems from individual identification with a larger
community that shares cultural, historical, and ethnic background. As the nineteenth
century drew to a close and increased international competition over Korean trading
rights grew, the domestic political climate on the peninsula began circulating around the
establishment of a “nation” and individuals began identifying with larger “imagined”
communities. The Tonghak, or Eastern (Korean) Learning school of thought comprised
one such nationalist community.
15 Ibid.. 16 Shin Yong-Ha, “Social History of the Ture Community (II),” 6.
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In order to understand the meaning of “community” in a nationalist context,
Benedict Anderson’s theory on nationhood proves valuable. In his influential book
Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Anderson
asserts that nationalism and the concept of a nation relies upon the individual within a
community’s understanding of mutual “communion” with all other community members
in spite of the fact that members of a nation will never personally know all of their
fellow-members.17 Therefore, the development of a community occurs through the minds
of the individuals, and is “imagined.” Although, following Anderson’s definition, mutual
communion in Korea through language, culture, and music largely emerged during the
Japanese occupation, early indications of growing national awareness and sentiment
emerge in the pre-occupation period through ture, but perhaps more distinctly through the
Tonghak Rebellion of the 1890s.
Many peasants of the Chosŏn Period feared the Westernizing changes rapidly
occurring within Korea in the latter half of the nineteenth century. During this time,
Catholicism entered Korean religious consciousness – declaring equality in the eyes of
God, a precedent unheard of and condemned by the powerholders in the Neo-Confucian
Chosŏn social and political system.18 Despite prohibitions on the spread of the religion,
Catholicism’s egalitarian message impacted scholars on the peninsula. Che-u Ch’oe, in
the 1850s, led the beginning of the Tonghak movement. He incorporated the effect of
17 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, rev. ed (New York, London: Verso, 2006 ©1983), 20. 18 Won Sul Lee, “Korean Culture and Worldview,” in An Introduction to Korean Culture, ed. John H. Koo and Andrew C. Nahm (New Jersey: Hollym International Corp., 1997), 214.
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Catholicism’s message of equality and increased public animosity towards international
interference with domestic policy and the introduction of Western technology and politics
in his message of rekindling and affirmating Eastern Learning and tradition, with a new
emphasis on the equality of all men. Significantly, Ch’oe promulgated his anti-yangban,
egalitarian messages to the illiterate peasants of Chosŏn through relatable, easily
transmittable means - including pansori – a form of traditional opera included in the
kugak repertoire.19
After Ch’oe’s execution, the Tonghak movement continued its rapid growth.
Then, in 1894, peasants in the Ch’ungch’ŏng and Chŏlla provinces reacted violently
against their local administrators and threatened the central government – which called to
China for assistance.20 During the Tonghak Rebellion early traces of the significance of
appropriation of traditional music emerged, along with the integration of pansori in the
early stages of the movement, with use of the minyo song “Blue Bird” as a means of
conveying myriad messages to participants in the Rebellion.
As mentioned above, scholars today disagree on the exact origins and meanings
of “Blue Bird.” Much like other forms of folk music, or minyo, lyrics and melody of the
song differ according to geographic region.21 A section of the lyrics of the representative
19 Bruce Cumings, Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, ©2005, 1997), 116. 20 John Kie-chiang Oh, “Political Tradition and Contemporary Politics and Government,” in An Introduction to Korean Culture, ed. John H. Koo and Andrew C. Nahm (New Jersey: Hollym International Corp., 1997), 228. 21 Like the folk song “Arirang,” “Blue Bird” also has myriad different versions. Versions differ by regional vernacular, style, and slightly altered lyrics. However, unlike “Arirang,” one specific version of “Blue Bird,” the one discussed in this paper, is considered representative by scholars.
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version,22 in both Romanized and original form, as well as a literal translation of the
meaning, are as follows;
Saeya saeya p’aransaeya
Noktubade anji mara
Noktukkodi ttŏrŏjimyŏn
Ch’ŏngp’ojangsu ulgo
kanda
새야 새야 파랑새야
녹두밭에 앉지 마라
녹두꽃이 떨어지면
청포장수 울고 간다 23
Birds, birds, blue birds,
Do not disturb the green-
bean fields.
The farmers will cry
If the flowers are dropped
and lost.24
Although most scholars agree that “Blue Bird” symbolizes the struggles of the
Tonghak Rebellion of 1894, they disagree over the symbolic meaning of the blue bird,
p’arangsaeya, itself. Like the singer Son Woo, 25 many believe that the blue bird
symbolizes the blue jackets worn by intruding Japanese soldiers, and that the fields
represent Korean lands and citizens.26 However, other scholars argue that the meaning of
the song relates instead to Tonghak animosity towards the Qing soldiers, the blue birds,
invited by the Korean king Kojong as a means of quelling the resistance.27 In either case,
“Blue Bird” remains a song calling for liberation from oppression. Following the arrival
of soldiers from Qing China, Japan sent its own troops to the peninsula, sparking the
22 Kim Dohyeong, “Tonghakminyo p’alangsaenolae yŏnku,” 226. 23 Son Woo “[HIT] Pulhuŭi myŏngkok,” 2:07-2:53. 24 “Blue Bird (새야 새야 파랑새야),” The Sejong Cultural Society, accessed February 27, 2016, http://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/composition/current/music/parangsae.php. 25 Son Woo, “[HIT] Pulhuŭi myŏngkok.” 26 “Kugak sajŏn: saeya saeya” 국악사전: 새야 새야 [Dictionary of Korean Traditional Music: Blue Bird], National Gugak Center, accessed February 27, 2016, https://www.gugak.go.kr/site/program/board/basicboard/view?boardtypeid=6&menuid=001003001002&boardid=877. 27 Kim Dohyeong, “Tonghakminyo p’alangsaenolae yŏnku,” 227.
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Sino-Japanese War (1894-5) which occurred primarily on Korean land and resulted in
Japanese victory.
For the sake of this study “Blue Bird” represents the continued trend of music as a
catalyst for public approval and unified participation in, or solidarity with, political
movements. As with nongak, the use of minyo and “Blue Bird” encouraged layperson
solidarity with a larger community – the Tonghak rebels. By calling upon the lower
classes, specifically Korean farmers, “Blue Bird” invited cultural nationalism in the
audience, and the Tonghak rebels used this nationalism as a means of pushing their
reformist agenda. Although the government of Chosŏn suppressed the movement, it
nevertheless provides another example of the precedent for use of music in establishing
political legitimacy and strength in Korean culture and government.
GROWING CULTURAL NATIONALISM: THE OCCUPATION
Following the collapse of the Yi Dynasty in Chosŏn, the Empire of Japan
formally annexed the Korean peninsula in 1910, replacing the Korean leadership with the
Government-General of Chosen28 (GGC) which operated under direct Japanese authority.
In doing so, the Japanese Government asserted that through annexation and assimilation
they consolidated “the foundation of the [Japanese] Empire and [assured] lasting peace
for the Far East.”29 They couched their invasion in Western European terms, as a means
28 Here, the Government-General of Chosen retains its original 1910 Romanization. 29 Government-General of Chosen (GGC), Results of Three Years’ Administration of Chosen (Seoul: Government-General of Chosen, 1914), 1.
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of securing international validity, comparing their imposed colonial government to Great
Britain’s in India.30
Scholars divide the period of Korean occupation into three sections. The Military
Period, from 1910-1919, the Cultural Period, which spanned from 1919-1930 and which
was a reaction to the failed March 1st Movement for independence on the peninsula in
1919, and the Wartime Period of 1930 to liberation in 1945. Throughout the occupation
the asserted intentions of the General-Government of Chosen remained the same,
although the visible strictness of the administration varied. From the outset, the Japanese
government claimed that Japan and Korea’s close geographic proximity and racial
similarities, accompanied by Japanese successes at Western-influenced modernization
and Korea’s supposed failure, inherently burdened Japan with the responsibility of
“lead[ing]” Korea to “civilization.”31 However, distinctive and apparent contradictions
within official and actual policy clarify that reality did not echo Japan’s rhetoric.
Despite their asserted intentions to “endow [the people of Korea] with an
administration conducted on a liberal and cultural line,”32 the Government-General of
Chosen pursued the replacement of traditional Korean culture with Japanese customs,
seeking complete control through absolute assimilation, during both the Military and
Wartime periods. In doing so, they not only oppressed culture that they worried might
30 Government-General of Chosen (GGC), Thriving Chosen: A Survey of Twenty-Five Years’ Administration, ed. Foreign Affairs Section (Taisho Shashin Kogeisho, 1935). 31 Government-General of Chosen, Results of Three Years, 17. 32 Government-General of Chosen (GGC), The New Administration in Chosen (Seoul: Government-General of Chosen, 1921), 3.
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lead to dissent, but simultaneously catalogued and recorded the very things they
eliminated from the public sphere as a method of placating the people.33
The GGC included Korean traditional music in their catalogues and distributed it
throughout Japan, attempting to negate the nationalistic power of such music in Korea.34
The appropriation of Korean traditional music by the occupying foreign power, Japan,
reveals the extent of its importance both in establishing and suppressing nationalist
sentiment. However, throughout the period of the Japanese occupation, which lasted until
the end of World War II in 1945, traditional music acted as a clear incentive for
identification with nationalist causes, both domestic and abroad, among ethnically
Korean people.
During the Japanese occupation period in Korea, Japanese and American
companies produced Korean records for the first time.35 Scholar Roald Maliangkay
argues that Korean traditional music records represented, not a direct attempt at cultural
hegemony, but rather an attempt at allowing traditional musicians’ participation in the
development of the new medium for the monetary benefit of the Japanese record
company executives.36 Maliangkay also asserts that the Japanese “found use [for
spreading Korean traditional music within Korea] in staging it in ways that supported
33 E. Taylor Atkins, Primitive Selves: Koreana in the Japanese Colonial Gaze, 1910-1945 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010). 34 E. Taylor Atkins, “The Dual Career of “Arirang”: The Korean Resistance Anthem that Became a Japanese Pop Hit,” The Journal of Asian Studies 66, no. 3 (Aug. 2007), 645. 35 Roald Maliangkay, “Their Masters’ Voice: Korean Traditional Music SPs (Standard Play Records) under Japanese Colonial Rule,” The World of Music 49, no. 3 (2007). 36 Ibid., 68.
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[Japanese] sense of superiority, or… reminded the audience of the arrogant hedonism of
Korea’s former aristocracy.”37
GGC fear that nationalist messages could foster change in behavior and possibly
lead to widespread revolt in the colony, particularly during the strict Wartime Period,
resulted in censorship of songbooks, recordings, and even education policies concerning
traditional Korean music.38 Along with censorship, the GGC appropriated Korean
traditional music, as a means of implying their benevolent and culturally sensitive
policies, in two ways – by stripping it of its Korean exclusivity and by cataloguing folk
songs, including one of the representative folk songs of Korea – “Arirang”.
ARIRANG
The folk song “Arirang” currently resides on the Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for both the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea39 and the Republic of Korea.40 Over 3,600 variations on approximately 60
different, and often geographically-based, versions of the song exist.41 Its implications
and meanings vary, from singing about a lost lover to a lost country. In almost all
37 Ibid., 61. 38 Jeong Ha Kim, “Rethinking Colonialism: Korean Primary School Music Education during the Japanese Colonial Rule of Korea, 1910-1945,” Journal of Historical Research in Music Education 36, no. 1 (2014): 34. 39 “Arirang folk song in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, accessed April 17, 2015, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00914 40 “Arirang, lyrical folk song in the Republic of Korea,” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, accessed April 17, 2015, http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011&RL=00445 41 “Arirang, lyrical folk song in the Republic of Korea.”
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versions of the folk song, the chorus remains the same, identifying versions as variations
and not entirely different songs. During the occupation by Japan, Korean nationalists
carried anonymously produced anti-Japanese versions of the song across the peninsula
and throughout the Korean diaspora. As the current Republic of Korea’s government
states, a portion of the song’s importance is its flexibility,42 a quality that enabled
appropriation and use of the folk song by various nationalist movements and individuals.
Although the exact origins of the folk song remain unclear to scholars, the most
popular version of the tune, “Bonjo Arirang,” (“본조 아리랑” [Original Melody
Arirang]),43 also known as Gyeonggi Arirang for its historical origins in the Gyeonggi
province, emerged during the Japanese Occupation. In 1926, during the more lenient
Cultural Period wherein the government authorized Korean language publications and
broadcasts, a director named Un’gyu Na directed a film entitled Arirang. In the film, a
Korean citizen fights the corrupt and violent Japanese authorities. The film concludes
with the Japanese police dragging the young nationalist over the fictional Arirang hill and
back to imprisonment. During the final scene of the film “Bonjo Arirang” plays,
expressing the sorrow and suffering of the characters, echoing the struggles felt by
contemporary Koreans. Although the GGC banned the film almost immediately for its
explicitly anti-imperialist message, and by 1950 the remaining recordings disappeared,
“Bonjo Arirang” left a distinct impression on the audience, the subjugated people of
42 “UNESCO Heritage in Korea,” Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Global Communication and Contents Division, accessed April 17, 2015, http://www.korea.net/AboutKorea/Culture-and-the-Arts/UNESCO-Treasures-in-Korea#none 43 Translated by Innam You, March 29, 2016.
16
Korea. By presenting a relatable nationalist message alongside a familiar, recognizable
folksong, both the movie and “Bonjo Arirang” became symbols of the Korean desire for
independence.
In an effort to suppress and coopt the song, the GGC produced their own versions
of “Arirang” with pro-GGC messages. They also prohibited the sale of potentially
subversive songbooks, and generally investigated folk songs across the peninsula.44
As a particular method of appropriating and denationalizing “Arirang,” people
and companies in Japan started cataloguing and releasing variations of the folk song for
the entire Japanese Empire, effectively making “Arirang” “the most familiar song in the
Japanese Empire.”45 By stripping “Arirang” of its Korean heritage and meaning, the
GGC pursued the denationalization of the folk song. One example of a Japanese version
of “Arirang” promoted for use in the peninsula, published in Choson, a monthly
magazine, claimed “Our country can secure my home. / I can lie down after I secure a
home. / With mind we value ourselves, let’s love our country and home.”46 In this pro-
GGC version of “Arirang” the government calls for the support of the ethnic Korean
population through appropriating and altering the folk song, encouraging citizens to love
and secure their homeland and, by implication, the government administering it. One
cannot overlook the significance of the specific linguistic cues incorporated into the
lyrics. The interplay between “our” and “my” implies the incorporation and absorption of
44 Shi-Op Kim, “Arirang, Modern Korean Folk Song,” Korea Journal 28, no. 7 (1988): 16. 45 Atkins, “The Dual Career of “Arirang””, 645. 46 “Pisangshi Arirang,” Choson, May, 1930. From Shi-Op Kim, “Arirang, Modern Korea Folk Song,” Korea Journal 28, no. 7 (1988): 13.
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the Korean individual, “I,” into the group “our” and “we,” which symbolize the
government and society ruled by the Empire of Japan. The very language of the lyrics
and message of the song encourages individual sacrifice for the group – in this case, the
submission of the individual to the GGC-administered structure.
Despite the effort to depoliticize and denationalize “Arirang” the folk song
continued to function as a channel through which the Korean people felt and expressed
their solidarity, common history, and belief in the value of their culture. To this day, the
popularity of “Arirang” reveals the song as a symbol of nationalism in Korea. The
Japanese colonial reaction to “Arirang” supports assertions of its significance. As they
attempted diversion from the nationalistic roots of the song by popularizing pro-GGC
versions, the government revealed its deep concerns about music and its widely
influential capabilities that defied censorship. Moreover, it attempted appropriation of the
nationalistic music it felt undermined or challenged GGC legitimacy.
However, as the Japanese-controlled GGC attempted appropriation of “Arirang”
for their own goals, the folk song simultaneously gained life and spread throughout
nationalist movements and the Korean population, sparking the growth of cultural
nationalism on a domestic and international scale.
Kim San, a pseudonym for a Korean Communist Party member who spent the
occupation period defying and fighting the Japanese in China and Manchuria, explicitly
refers to “Arirang” and recounts one of its distinctly anti-Japanese pro-nationalistic
versions in his autobiography, published originally in 1941. The lyrics, subtly subversive
18
and referencing specifically the communist dissenters in diaspora and the acquisition of
Korean land, measured in “li,” by the GGC, include the following;
Many stars in the deep sky –
Many crimes in the life of man.
Ariran, Ariran, Arari O!
…
Oh, twenty million countrymen –
where are you now?
Alive are only three thousand li
of mountains and rivers.47
In this version of “Arirang,” San calls upon his fellow Koreans to come to action
and laments the crimes committed against them. He asserts that “Alive are only three
thousand li of mountains and rivers,” implying that the Korean people are no longer truly
alive if they fail to resist the GGC. He continues his discussion of the poignancy of
“Arirang” throughout his text. He honors the tragedy of the song and declares it the
“favorite song of all Koreans for three hundred years.”48 During the 1920s as “Bonjo
Arirang” rose to fame, domestic artists also embedded radically nationalistic messages
into their versions of the folk song. “Arirang,” in its multiple variations and thanks to its
widespread familiarity throughout the peninsula both before and after the release of the
film, enabled layperson expression and transmission of experience despite censorship,
47 Kim San and Nym Wales, Song of Ariran: A Korean Communist in the Chinese Revolution (San Francisco: Ramparts Press, 1972 ©1941): 56. 48 Ibid., 58.
19
purely through word of mouth. “Arirang” fueled national spirit throughout Korea, Shi-Op
Kim argues, when Japanese aggression and censorship policies intensified.49
The preservation of these subversive versions of “Arirang,” despite GGC attempts
at censorship, reveals their importance in Korean public and ethnic identity and
consciousness. At a time when the GGC attempted to appropriate and depoliticize the
folk song, cultural nationalism enabled use of the song’s familiar tune by political
movements and by nationalistic individuals when appealing to the public – both
domestically and abroad.
Poets during the occupation used “Arirang,” as well as other minyo melodies,
following the tradition of the Tonghak Rebels and “Blue Bird”, as a medium for
expressing themes of collective suffering and national resistance. A genre of poetry,
kayosi (literally song-poem) allowed poets a medium through which they reached the
ethnic Korean population’s sense of collective ethnic unity, and enabled calls for change
or resistance. One kayosi, Arirang Kogae, written in 1929 by Kim Dongwan, refers
indirectly to the Korean public as a tree with latent blossoms in the following verse;
Kkodi an p’indago chugŭn
namulkka
Ppurinŭn saranne kkot p’igetchi
Arirang arirang arariyo
Arirang kogaerŭl ŏsŏ nŏmja
49 Kim, “Arirang,” 8. 50 Kim Dongwan, “Arirang Kogae” 아리랑 고개 [Arirang Hill], Chosŏnkigwang 조선기광 (February 1929) From I Dongsun Minjoksiŭi chŏngsinsa 민족시의정신사 [Intellectual history of the people’s poetry] (Ch’angjakkwabip’yŏngsa, 1996): 222.
꽃이 – 안 핀다고 죽은 나물까
뿌리는 살았네 꽃 피겠지
아리랑 아리랑 아라리요
아리랑 고개를 어서 넘자 50
If a tree’s flowers do not bloom, is
it dead?
If the roots are alive, it will bloom
Arirang, arirang, arariyo
Let’s quickly cross Arirang Hill
20
Appropriation of a familiar popular tune made dissident texts like Arirang Kogae
accessible to a wide audience of Koreans, and the subversive messages they spread
constituted a hidden transcript, by James Scott’s definition,51 of the text. Although not
overtly nationalist or provocative, the lyrics and connotations of such poetry appealed to
the Korean public. In Arirang Kogae, the author alludes to the indestructability of Korean
culture by asserting that the unseen flowers on the tree, a symbol of Korea, “will bloom.”
Traditional music in Korea allowed Koreans a channel through which they could
“express the violent social changes they had undergone and their acute experiences”52
and find hope through their own melodies. These songs and poems enabled Koreans to
not only acquire a sense of community through suffering, but also one of cultural
nationalism – a necessity for participants in independence movements during the
occupation. As diasporic political bodies and nationalist individuals appropriated the
medium as a vehicle for their ideology, domestic movements followed suit in creating
feelings of solidarity on the peninsula.
THE MARCH 1ST MOVEMENT: AEGUKGA
Just before the release of Un’gyu Na’s Arirang, an independence movement
called the March 1st Movement swept through the occupied peninsula. On March 1,
1919, approximately two million Korean protestors joined a group of scholars in Seoul
51 James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008). 52 Kim, “Arirang,” 8.
21
and throughout Korea in calling for independence from the Japanese.53 The GGC
responded violently to the movement and imprisoned and executed the leaders,
strengthening Japanese hold on the government. Exact numbers of those killed and
imprisoned vary, with Japanese officials reporting 553 killed and over 12,000 arrested
and Korean nationalists claiming 7,500 killed and 45,000 participants incarcerated.54 The
huge number of participants in the nation-wide movement resulted in slight policy
reforms by the government, ushering in the Cultural Period that ended in 1930.
However, for the sake of this essay, the implications of the March 1st Movement
and the language of their Declaration of Independence carry more importance than their
actual consequences. The March 1st Movement’s Declaration used nationalistic language
and specific references to Korea’s long history as unifying rhetoric for the larger Korean
community. The document’s signature date is the “4,242 Year since the Founding of the
Korean Nation, the Third Month,”55 indirectly signaling the transformation of the
separate histories of the Three Kingdoms, the Goryeo Dynasty, and the Yi Dynasty into
one collective Korean history. As Benedict Anderson suggests, this collective idea of
unity with the history of a collective group of people, the imagined nation, epitomizes
nationalism. Not only that, the Declaration also discussed the “national essence”56 of
Korea and condemned Japan for its denigration of former Korean accomplishments and
53 Andrew C. Nahm, “History,” in An Introduction to Korean Culture, ed. John H. Koo and Andrew C. Nahm (New Jersey: Hollym International Corp., 1997), 82. 54 Cumings, Korea’s Place, 155. 55 Han-Kyo Kim, “The Declaration of Independence, March 1, 1919: A New Translation,” Korean Studies 13, no. 1 (1989): 1-4. 56 Ibid., 3.
22
ancestry.57 Use of specific music, the “Aegugka,” marks the March 1st Movement as
another appropriating political entity, and another symbol of the continuing tradition and
strength of music in establishing national identity during the occupation period.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the leaders of the March 1st
Movement, along with promoting nationalism concerning ancestry, also referred
explicitly to the Japanese perspective on the crudeness and unimportance of Korean
traditional culture. The signers reminded Koreans to reflect upon the denial of “the
opportunities to contribute [Korean] creative vitality to the development of world
culture…”58 By referencing the damage done to relatable and familiar popular culture the
leaders of the movement broadened the demographic to which their nationalistic message
appealed. Moreover, Korean culture naturally includes music, and the importance of
music in the movement appeared from the first moments of the protests.
On the first of March, 1919, Koreans from practically every stage of life paraded
the streets singing the “Aegukga” as their anthem59 until the GGC’s militaristic police
force brutally suppressed the resistance. Through this action, the Korean public strongly
displayed their resistance to Japanese rule and exhibited a consciousness unified partially
through singing the “Aegukga.” The “Aegukga” also served as the anthem for the
Provisional Government (in exile) of the Republic of Korea, revealing awareness, even in
diaspora, of solidarity.
57 Ibid., 2. 58 Ibid.. 59 Carlton Waldo Kendall, The Truth About Korea (San Francisco: The National Korea Association, 1919): 30.
23
The “Aegugka” does not technically fall into the categories of kugak or minyo.
However, the pre-colonial origins of the lyrics, as well as its significance during the
March 1st Movement in creating feelings of unified cultural consciousness in the
occupied peninsula, along with its continued use as the anthem of the Republic of Korea,
validate its presence in this argument. The “Aegugka” was one of the first records
released containing Korean music. Although slightly different than the version sung at
the March 1st Movement or currently used as the national anthem of South Korea,
scholars cannot overlook the significance of the 1896 record release.60 At a time just
before dissolution, when the government sought legitimization and support from its
people, the introduction of a national anthem ideally would have led to enough national
fervor to maintain independence.
Although that reality did not come true for the Koreans participating in the
reconstruction efforts of the late nineteenth century, the singing of the “Aegugka” by
protestors in 1919 reveals related intentions of the March 1st Movement leaders. The
leaders called to an historical past of independence and freedom from Japanese colonial
cultural oppression through use of the song, reminding those listening to and participating
in the protests of their long combined history through the music. Interestingly, the version
of the “Aegukga” sung by protestors in 1919 was set to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne,”61
perhaps a reference to the perceived importance of Western culture in modernization,
particularly as the movement appealed to Europe and the USA for international
60 Maliangkay, “Their Masters’ Voice,” 55. 61 Kendall, The Truth About Korea, 30.
24
recognition of Korea as an independent nation. Significantly, after liberation, a Korean
composer, Eak-tai Ahn, rewrote the melody of what is now the national anthem of the
Republic of Korea.
The end of the occupation period in 1945, instead of bringing peace and unity,
illuminated deep political rifts and culminated in the Korean War of 1950-1953 between
Northern communists and Southern democratic forces. However, the end of a unified
Korean peninsula did not signify the end to the use of music as a means of promoting
nationalism and insisting the legitimacy of the government. The tradition of building
community through cultural nationalism by means of music continued in the postwar
period, and remains an important reality of life in the Koreas today.
THE POSTWAR KOREAS: DPRK, ROK, AND MUSIC
During the Colonial Period, a genre of music entitled panilgayo (反日歌謠 [anti-
Japanese songs]) emerged in the Korean cultural sphere.62 These songs, not appropriated
by but nevertheless used by nationalist movements, do not gain relevance in this
argument until the postwar period. Panilgayo melodies have strong military rhythms, use
large brass instrument and percussion sections, and typically have a chorus of singers
who recite the lyrics in perfect unison. During the postwar period, panilgayo develops
special significance in the discussion of political appropriation of music. Both the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea preserved panilgayo
62 Kim Dŏkkyun, “Uri kyŏreŭi hangilgayo yŏn’gu” 우리 겨레의 抗日歌謠 硏究 [A Study of Resistant Songs toward Japanese Colony], Journal of the Society for Korean Historico-Musicology 20, no. 1 (1998), 575.
25
by different names. In the north, panilgayo became hyŏngmyŏnggayo (革命歌謠
[revolutionary songs]) and in the south, tongnipkun’ga (獨立軍歌 [independence
songs]).63 The distinctly political rhetoric surrounding even the titles of the genre of
music reveal the incentives of the post-war governments. In the north, where the
government sought legitimacy through overthrowing both the occupation forces and
creating a completely revolutionary social structure, anti-Japanese songs became hymns
of the revolution. In the south, where the government prioritized independence from the
colonizing forces and the creation of democracy, the exact same music became
tongnipkun’ga.
Throughout the almost seventy years following the end of the occupation and the
Korean War, governments in the north and south have promoted strong nationalist
policies. Unfortunately, due to current global political climate, many of the policies
which may impact music or even the basic details of cultural values in North Korea
remain hidden from scholars.64 However, use of folk songs in large, internationally
visible displays of nationalist fervor, such as the Arirang Festival, or mass games, shows
the continued use of traditional music by the North Korean government as a means of
expressing North Korean nationalist consciousness. The format of the mass games, which
involves thousands of synchronized participants, both implies and literally displays the
unity of the citizens of the country, a thought reinforced by incorporation of “Arirang.”
63 Ibid.. 64 Cumings, Korea’s Place, 139.
26
North Korean music continues to follow the military-march, large-group format
of hyŏngmyŏnggayo. A 2004 documentary on young gymnasts practicing for the mass
games, A State of Mind,65 includes many scenes of musical performance. Thousands of
voices singing together, marching and dancing in unison, accompanied by
hyŏngmyŏnggayo and minyo, reveal the continued appropriation of music by North Korea
to promote their agenda of nationalism and self-reliance.
In South Korea, political history rife with different types of leaders, from dictators
to liberal reformists, provides countless opportunities for continued study of
appropriation of music as a means of promoting the legitimacy of a regime. For the
purpose of this argument, though, focus on modern South Korean politics and the use of
traditional music through programs like Immortal Songs 2 proves most accessible and
useful.
One specific performance, a duet by Sohee Song and Kyung-min Hong, on the
2014 March 1 Special of Immortal Songs 2,66 highlights the attributes of traditional
Korean music that keep it relevant in discussions of the methods of expression of Korean
national consciousness in society today. The performance opens with piano and a
traditional Korean instrument, the haegeum, playing the introduction for the explicitly
nationalistic “Holo Arirang.” (홀로 아리랑 [Arirang Alone]) Kyung-min Hong
65 A State of Mind, DVD, directed by Daniel Gordon (2004; USA, Kino International). 66 Sohee Song and Kyung-min Hong, “[HIT] Hong Kyung-min&Song Sohee (haegŭm: Kim Yuna) – holo arirang purhuŭi myŏnggok 2.20140301” [HIT] 홍경민&송소희(해금: 김유나) - 홀로 아리랑 불후의 명곡 2.20140301 [Immortal Songs II – Hong Kyung-min and Song Sohee – Holo Arirang] YouTube video, 4:25, from a performance televised by KBS on March 3, 2013, posted by "KBSKpop," March 1, 2014, accessed March 30, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNb9mFzY7b4&index=3&list=PL0D9_gt3-vxyA-cAEgF-D0xC59qZ8epEi
27
proceeds to sing using hints of sigimsae, a Korean form of vocal ornamentation,67
comparable in sound to a western trill. As the video progresses, Sohee Song, a young
traditionally-trained singer, emerges and picks up the chorus with heavy pansori
technique, successfully inviting the audience to participate in the song as culturally
informed Korean listeners, and they sing along from their seats. Without the rich
historical tradition and cultural specificity of the music performed, the duet performance
on March 1, 2014 would have lacked impact. Also, without the Korean tradition of music
as a means of political expression, the music may have lacked the distinct nationalist
feeling or the ability to unify the audience. Moreover, audience involvement in the
performance reminds both viewers and participants of the March 1st Movement’s mass
demonstrations – the very event the performance celebrates.
Although regimes following the war, including Park Chung-hee’s dictatorship,
attempted unification of the public through recognition of national traditional culture,68
public desire to forge a new national identity based not entirely on loathing North
Koreans, but instead on celebrating Korean uniqueness and ethnicity through traditional
music and culture only emerged after the democracy movements of the 1980s.69
Domestically, traditional music as expressed through film and television shows
developed into a significant and explicit symbol and embodiment of solidarity and
national pride in South Korea. The 1993 film Sopyonje uses the story of a family of
67 Heekyung Lee, "Reconsidering Traditional Vocal Practices in Contemporary Korean Music," in Vocal Music and Contemporary Identities: Unlimited Voices in East Asia and the West, ed. Christian Utz et al. (Florence: Taylor and Francis, 2013), 138. 68 Ibid., 134. 69 Ibid., 136.
28
traditional musicians as a medium for expressing the sorrow incited by being wronged, or
han, present in contemporary and historical Korean culture.70 By highlighting the unique
Koreanness embodied by han and expressed through traditional music, specifically
pansori, Sopyonje calls upon Koreans to remember their suffering and reinforce their
national identity.71 Use of the pansori musical style calls to a distinct South Korean
domestic nationalism centered around the concept of collective han.
The performance on Immortal Songs 2 calls to the same feelings of nationalism
and unity among the Korean audience. Children sing and sway in the background, the
audience members hold flags, sing along to the lyrics, and are visibly affected by the
performance. During another broadcast of Immortal Songs 2, one of the performers
discusses her belief that only ethnic Koreans can express the authentic feelings and fervor
embodied by traditional music.72 Through audience participation, as well as the singer’s
statement, one sees the success of the integration of traditional music and national/ethnic
self-awareness. As seen in Sopyonje and also in the audience reaction to the performance
of “Holo Arirang,” interaction in the form of participation with the melody and singer
70 Sopyonje서편제, DVD, directed by Im Kwon-taek (1993; Seoul, Spectrum DVD, 2005). 71 Michael Robinson, “Contemporary Cultural Production in South Korea: Vanishing Meta-Narratives of Nation,” in New Korean Cinema, ed. Chi-Yun Shin et al. (New York: New York University Press, 2005), 27. 72 Sohyang소향 (김소향), Interview in “[HIT] Pulhuŭi myŏngok – Sohyang, pudŭrŏpko kangnyŏrhage… holo arirang yŏlch’ang. 20150221" 불후의 명곡 - 소향, 부드럽고 강렬하게…‘홀로 아리랑’ 열창. [Immortal Songs II – Sohyang, intense and meaningful, a passionately sung “Holo Arirang”] YouTube video, 7:41, from a performance televised by KBS on February 21, 2015, posted by "KBSKpop," February 21, 2015, accessed March 30, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tkxtm8Zzb0&index=2&list=PL0D9_gt3-vxyA-cAEgF-D0xC59qZ8epEi
29
continues to constitute a vital aspect of nationalist Korean music as perceived by South
Korean nationals today.
Along with promoting nationalistic memories of the Independence Movement of
March 1, 1919, the song chosen highlights a contemporary political issue – the dispute
over Dokdo Island with Japan. Although “Holo Arirang” functions primarily as a
traditional folk song, pushing domestic nationalism, the reference to Dokdo,73 both in the
lyrics and the actual setting of the stage, which has a giant display of a photo of Dokdo,
politicizes the performance on an international scale. The lyrics of the song, in which the
singers ask if Dokdo has slept well through the night, appeal to a sympathetic feeling of
protectiveness for the island and enforce the national concept of ownership over the
territory.
For an audience member with no attachments to Korea or Japan, the performance
appears straightforwardly traditional and nationalistic. However, for a viewer with an
understanding of the sociohistorical context of the performance, the music and stage
carry a clear political message and distinct sociopolitical implications. These implications
and messages appropriate traditional music as a medium to appeal to the domestic
Korean audience, calling on specifically Korean themes and methods of message
transmission. The target audience of traditional music, including pansori, allows
entrance of nationalist South Korean themes – such as han, group participation and
solidarity, and political rhetoric, to the public space. Ultimately, performances such as
73 The disputed ownership of the Dokdo/Takeshima Islands by Korea or Japan is currently a major point of international contention. Both nations claim ownership of the territory – and have put major nationalistic importance on maintaining their claims.
30
those on Immortal Songs 2 and the release of films like Sopyonje, reveal the success of
the current South Korean government in their appropriation of music as a means of
unifying their citizens and cultivating cultural nationalism.
CONCLUSION
Music on the Korean peninsula has for centuries provided a medium for
expression of group solidarity and unity among ethnic Koreans. Beginning in the Chŏson
period with ture joint farming initiatives and their accompanying nongak melodies,
Korean political movements and individuals developed, and appropriated, music as a
means of building their legitimacy and garnering support among the illiterate peasant,
and later civilian, class. The tradition of building feelings of solidarity through cultural
nationalism by means of appropriated music finds expression in multiple Korean political
movements and government policies. Moreover, the tradition of music as a political tool
extends beyond the peninsula. Myriad organizations and movements around the world
developed their own music as an expression of internal solidarity. Examples include, but
are not limited to, the former USSR’s music, African slave songs in the Americas, and
European classical music, such as the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky that celebrated
military victories of a nation. Further research into such examples would undoubtedly
provide interesting insight into the successes of music as a political tool universally, and
also further inform its application in Korea. For the sake of this paper, understanding the
notable success of political appropriation of music on the Korean peninsula requires an
31
examination of this tradition and its expression throughout different periods of Korean
history.
Increasing international challenges during the later years of the Yi Dynasty in
Chŏson introduced many changes to Korean society. Christian messages of equality,
growing feelings of nationalism and identification with an ethnic group, and xenophobic
reactions to industrialization and other forms of Western technology paved the way for
widespread cultural nationalism on the peninsula. Appropriated traditional music acted as
a catalyst for cultural nationalist sentiment among ethnic Koreans both inside and outside
Korea – beginning with the Tonghak Rebellion’s use of pansori style music and the
minyo song “Blue Bird.”
Following the collapse of the Yi Dynasty and annexation by Japan, Japanese
policies of suppression and censorship of music reveal the importance of traditional
music. The banning of “Arirang,” the “Aegugka,” and other traditional songs implies that
the Japanese government understood the potential capability of such music as a catalyst
for unified rebellion. Moreover, Imperial Japan itself appropriated “Arirang” as a means
of stripping it of its Koreanness and nationalist implications. However, GGC suppression
and appropriation of music during the period of the Japanese occupation did not lead to
decreased feelings of cultural nationalism among ethnic Koreans. Instead, political
movements, such as the March 1st Movement of 1919, latched onto minyo and other
forms of traditional music as they appealed to their fellow Koreans for support.
Following liberation from the Japanese and division after the Korean War, the
32
governments of both North and South Korea continue appropriating traditional music as
they assert their legitimacy and unify their citizens through cultural nationalism.
Continued research of the music of North and South Korea may reveal continuing
patterns of appropriation of music for political incentives. In today’s Republic of Korea,
for example, research about continuing appropriation of nongak and kugak may reveal
significant insights into the political motives behind government decisions. Also, analysis
of available DPRK music may reveal some of the methods by which they assert their
authority, and perhaps assist in facilitating more accurate international understanding of
DPRK policies.
Ultimately, Korea provides an excellent case study for the use of music in the
political sphere. Korean political movements and individuals throughout the complicated
twentieth century and the formation of the two current nations reminded the Korean
people of their unified and autonomous history through the appropriation and political
application of music. The cultural nationalism that developed among ethnic Koreans then
served, and serves, as the foundation for the political ideology and governments
envisioned by Korean nationalists. Traditional music, appropriated by these political
bodies as a means of strengthening their basis of support, emerged from a history of
collective action and contributed to the establishment of cultural nationalism on the
peninsula.
33
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Name of Candidate: Alyssa Victoria Mae Wall
Birth date: April 18, 1994
Birth place: Lander, Wyoming
Address: 2762 E. Parleys Way SLC, UT, 84109
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