Donna Lee Kwon: Music in Korea. xxii, 202 pp. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. ISBN 978 0 19 536827 7 (original) (raw)

Performing the'Traditional'in the South Korean Musical World

2008

This article examines contemporary, traditional music culture in South Korea through a close look at one South Korean musician, a kayag m (12string zither) performer known for her work with composers of experimental music, has become, for many, a muse through which the emerging genre of new 'traditional' or 'national' music is finding its voice. Through interviews and a brief examination of her musical lineage, this article highlights the complexities of transforming a musical tradition. The artist's activities are entwined with discourse regarding tradition in South Korea. While the discourse regarding 'tradition' provides an interpretive lens through which music performance can be viewed, the construction of a new traditional music incorporates an artist's personal experiences, notions of aesthetic validity, and competence. A focus on factors such as these makes possible a more nuanced analysis of the musician's role in, as well as an appreciation of the contingent nature of, the construction of a contemporary Korean music.

Taking Culture Seriously: Democratic Music and Its Transformative Potential in South Korea

Web Site: http://www.uni-bamberg.de/ethnomusikologie • http://the-world-of-music-journal.blogspot.cm Cover and graphic design: Max W. Mönnich Subscription and advertising enquiries to be sent to the publisher: • VWB -Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung , Amand Aglaster, Subscription rates 2007: EUR 58,00 for subscribers in Germany EUR 70,00 for subscribers abroad (rates include postage and handling; order form: see back page [Visa Card accepted])

Introduction to the Special Section Music That Moves: Sonic Narratives in Modern Korea

Korean Studies, 2022

The starting place for the papers in this special section is music. Music is not bound to material forms as is painting and sculpture or to language like literature and poetry. It travels as waves with kinetic energy through space. Music is governed by organizational principles, to be sure, but the porosity of its delivery and the purported universality of its form-no prior knowledge is required to experience it-makes music one of the most effective conveyors of human emotion. The study of Korean popular music has expanded substantially in recent years and has been informed by trends in two areas of scholarship. The first area is that of the "popular"; scholarship in this area has illuminated everyday life as a key site for critical engagement with mass media. 1 The other area can be broadly categorized as "K-pop studies"; this scholarship takes stock of popular culture in transnational forms that manifest in multimedia spectacles, global fandom, and mass performances. 2 These two groundswells have created a veritable golden age of popular culture studies, and have brought into relief the extent to which the

Introduction to Songs for "Great Leaders" Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance

Songs of "Great Leaders": Ideology and Creativity in North Korean Music and Dance, 2020

Songs for "Great Leaders" is the first book-length account of North Korean music and dance in any language other than Korean. It explores in a critical but informed way not just old revolutionary songs and new pop songs, but also developments of Korean instruments, the creation of revolutionary operas that embed the ideology of jute "self-reliance," mass spectacles, dance and dance notation, and composers and compositions