This blog is the first of a three part blog series about Korean theater. The second blog will cover P’ansori, while the third blog will be about contemporary Korean theater.
Traditional Korean theater has a rich and diverse history. According to Remapping the Korean Theatre Tradition by Jungman Park, theaters of the Chosun era were ingrained in the culture of the minjung, or the commoners. There were several different styles of theater, including 탈춤 (talchum), 판소리 (p’ansori), 그림자극 (geurimja-geuk ), and 인형극 (inhyeong-geuk). Park explains that talchum is a mask dance, geurimja-geuk is a shadow drama, and inhyeong-geuk is a puppet show. P’ansori, one of the more popular forms of traditional Korean theater, is an epic song performance.
Books (in Korean) about traditional Korean theater in OSUL:
- 한국연극사연구 (Hanʼguk yŏnʼgŭksa yŏnʼgu) by 사진실 (Sa, Chin-sil) (태학사, 1997)
- 한국의 탈춤 (Hanʼgukŭi tʻalchʻum) by 조동일 (Cho, Tong-il) (이화여자대학교출판부, 2005)
- 은율 탈춤 음악본 (Ŭnyul tʻalchʻum ŭmakpon) by 김 호석 (Kim, Ho-sŏk) (민속원, 2009)
Books (in English) about traditional Korean theater in OSUL:
- An outline history of Korean drama by John Kardoss (Long Island University Press, 1966)
Cover of 한국의 탈춤
- Traditional Performing Arts of Korea by Kyŏng-uk Chŏn (Korea Foundation, 2008)
- Traditional Korean theatre (Asian Humanities Press, 1988)
Online article about traditional Korean theater (OSUL login required):
- Dance: Where Bawdy Satire Is a Choreographic Tool by Sohn Jie-Ae (The New York Times, 1993)
