... of Korea Kungnip Ch’anggŭktan p’ansori Underwater Palace Song of the Sugung ga Ch’anggŭk Chŏngnip Wiwŏnhoe Committee for the Establishment of Ch’anggŭk National Center for Korean Folk Performing Arts Kungnip Minsok Kugagwŏn National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts Kungnip Kugagwŏn Seoul...

...This chapter examines the still disputed origins of ch'angguk and reveals what is at stake in the debate. It shows how different theories of ch'angguk's origins enhance or detract from its claim to be traditional. The same is true of the comparisons often made...

...This chapter deals with ch'angguk under Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945), highlighting a major development in the mid-1930s that established the main features of the genre as it is known today. That such a development should occur in the midst of the colonial period raises...

...This chapter focuses on yosong kukkuk, an all-female variant of ch'angguk that emerged and rose to great fame in postcolonial South Korea but was, like the 1930s movement, accused of sacrificing tradition to popularity. It examines this phenomenon in relation...

...In this concluding chapter, the author goes back to the question he posed at the beginning: What do I think of Korean traditional opera? In one form or another, he has been asked this question constantly during his research on ch'angguk, and he believes that he owes it to those who...

...This is the first book on Korean opera in a language other than Korean. Its subject is ch'angguk, a form of musical theater that has developed over the last hundred years from the older narrative singing tradition ofp'ansori. The book examines the history...

...This chapter examines the ch'angguk's musical eclecticism and its role in the search for a Korean traditional opera. By describing the main musical resources on which ch'angguk draws, their uses in ch'angguk, and the discourses around both...

...This chapter focuses on the National Changgeuk Company of Korea (NCCK) and its repeated efforts since the 1960s to establish ch'angguk as a “Korean traditional opera” for domestic and international consumption. It argues that the NCCK's pursuit of traditionality through...

...This chapter interprets a selection of stories from the current ch'angguk repertory, including both traditional p'ansori stories and adaptations from other sources, as vehicles for particular themes and meanings. Applying a formalist model in which narrative...