P'ungmul Kut (Percussion Music Rituals): Integrating Korean Traditions with Modern Identities

Abstract

While exploring the relationships between tradition, modernity, and identity, I focus on <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic>, which are Korean rituals featuring percussion music and dance. Although <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> is sometimes referred to as "farmers' music" (<italic>nongak</italic>), it actually encompasses much more (see Chapter 2). <italic>P'ungmul kut</italic> is the basis of the popular genre of music known as <italic>samul nori</italic> (named after the group SamulNori who began performing on concert stages in 1978). A key feature of <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> is audience participation in the form of dancing and cheering. In Chapter 3, I examine the differences between rituals of <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> and concerts by SamulNori as "participatory" and "presentational" performances (Turino 2008). <italic>P'ungmul kut</italic> are an integral part of the Korean <italic>Mu</italic> religion (which is often misleadingly translated as "shamanism"). The Korean word <italic>kut</italic> means "ritual" and often refers to <italic>mudang kut</italic> ("shaman" rituals), therefore <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> is sometimes misunderstood as being a type of <italic>mudang kut</italic>. But <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> are not shaman rituals and they are quite distinct from <italic>mudang kut</italic> (Chapter 4). The South Korean government's policy of preserving "Intangible Cultural Assets" is a model for UNESCO's policy of "Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage." Ironically, in order to be designated and "preserved" as a Cultural Asset, <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> has undergone significant transformations (Chapter 5). In contrast, there has been a renewal of <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> as contemporary rituals in political protests as part of the People's Cultural Movement (Chapter 6). The music of <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> represents Korean concepts about the cosmos. To illustrate these concepts, Video Examples (Supplementary Material) and music notations of key rhythmic cycles are included (Chapter 7). I focus on a regional style of <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic> known as <italic>kun'go</italic> (literally, "military drums") from the southwest coast, which provides valuable insights into other regional styles. <italic>P'ungmul kut</italic> may be seen as rituals that transform people into an integrated community of individuals, thereby developing each individual's sense of self as well as a collective group identity or <italic>communitas</italic> (Turner 1969). When participating in <italic>p'ungmul kut</italic>, people often have optimal experiences of "flow" (Csikszentmihalyi 1990) and a connection with nature and the cosmos.