Abstract
This is the study on the 'Theater State' in the Daehan Empire of the Emperor Gochung in the late 1900 with the theatrical concepts of cultural performance theory which has been useful for investigating historical, social, and cultural collective memories and their transformation mechanism in the society. The performance theory is based in the notion, '$Performativit{\ddot{a}}t$', by which the performance can contain vary performance forms. $Performativit{\ddot{a}}t$ is the notion which points up the certain process that can cause the perceptional emotion communication to the performers and audiences in the performance. The spectacle of a society is also understood and presupposed by the $Performativit{\ddot{a}}t$. Generally speaking, the spectacle has been used of explaining the visual cultural experiences in society. Fundamentally, spectacle had resulted from the latin 'spectaculum', which was used to designate theatrical representation in France. In the case of movie, spectacle was the grand show with showy technological attractions. The spectacle have been to show the political and socio-historical relationships in a society. But in my study, I want to start the premise that the cultural performance planed by the Emperor Gochung in the Daehan Empire has the attribute of 'theater state', which can awaken the certain collective emotion to connect the Emperor and his people in the Daehan Empire period of the Emperor Gochung of the late 1900. In addition to it, I search for the historical collective memories of the Daehan Empire. The government of the Daehan Empire was continuing with its efforts to enforce and recollect the imperial images and authority of the Emperor and his Empire to get the approval of the people and international society. The effect of spectacle consisting of theater state was the concrete effort to establish the collective memories of the Daehan Empire by remodelling and rebuilding the Seoul, the capital of the Empire and performing the national ceremony such as the korean pagent(Gae-Dung거둥) and parade to set the portrait of the Emperor(A-Jin어진), the geo-body of the Empire.