Korean Shamanist Theater and Drama

Korean Shamanist Theater and Drama Daniel A. Kister, S.J. In Urdrama: The Origins of the Theatre (New York, 1975), E. T. Kirby has gathered together an impressive amount of evidence from major traditions of the world’s drama to support the thesis that the theater has its origins in shamanistic ritual seances. He conceives shamanist ritual in the broadly defined sense of a rite typified by “possession in a trance by a spirit who speaks from within the medium and determines his actions” (p. 2). He stresses that the shaman rite has inherent theatrical tendencies that distinguish it from “other forms of what may be called ceremonial ritual in that it depends upon the immediate and direct manifestation to the audience of supernatural pre­ sence, rather than its symbolization” (p. 2). Kirby relies on eye-witness accounts of still extant shamanist rituals when they are available, as in the case of India and China, and pieces together comments found in various ancient documents to support his thesis when he must go back in time, as in the case of Greece. He aims to make a historical statement about the shamanic roots of some of the world’s most highly developed dramatic strains and is not primarily concerned with evaluating the intrinsic artistic and dramatic merits of the shamanist rituals themselves. Kirby’s conception of shamanist ritual fits the Korean mudang kut, the ancient pre-Christian, pre-Buddhist ritualistic embodiment of a sense of contact with a spirit world that still maintains a hold on the imaginative and spiritual life of many people; but he touches on Korean drama only briefly, noting that “the sandae mask play Ha-Hoe developed as a part of a shamanist ritual” (p. 31). A book such as Kirby’s cannot be DANIEL A. KISTER, S.J., teaches at Sogang University in Seoul, where he is currently Professor and Chairman of the English Department. He has previously published articles on aspects of Korean Shamanist ritual in Korean language publications. 153 154 Comparative Drama expected to cover all of the world’s dramatic traditions, but a more prolonged look at the Korean mudang kut can significantly complement his study by revealing the artistic and dramatic richness of a body of shamanistic ritual itself. Whatever may be verified about the historical development of Korean mask drama from the kut, the various rituals of the kut as it presently exists form a sophisticated repertory worthy of artistic analysis in its own right. Though primitive in the sense that it is ancient, this repertory is not just a seminal and undeveloped form of theater. Indeed a case may be made to support the judgment that the kut at times surpasses the Korean mask play in imaginative power and dramatic effect. The theatrical repertory of the Korean kut is much too extensive to cover in the space of a brief article. But I will point out the characteristic setting, theatrical vocabulary, and struc­ tural patterns that mark a typical section of a mudang kut, and I will discuss the tone, artistic purpose, and function of the theatrical effects in the ritual experience. With a view to indi­ cating some of the variety of kut theater and showing various ways in which it functions in an extended ritual production, I will then focus on two rites: the communal Pyol-shin Kut as it has traditionally been regularly celebrated in a fishing village, and the more private Chin-o-kwi Kut or O-ku Kut, the cere­ mony for one who has died. The way the mudang employs the basic theatrical vocabulary and patterns can vary considerably from kut to kut, but I will analyze and evaluate particular examples of the mudang’s theatrical artistry as witnessed or reported. In so far as what I have to say complements Kirby’s study, it is not a folklore study of a unique Korean phenomenon so much as an investigation into a significant part of the thea­ trical and dramatic heritage of mankind. My focus differs, however, from that of Kirby in that I aim to investigate this body of theater in itself, without attempting to make a conclu­ sion about its relation to...