• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.37
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• pp.33-60
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• 2018

This article is to present that the research on the Mudang Gut Chum should be within the context of the performance of Mudang Gut and examines its meanings and implications with focus on Seoul Mudang Gut Chum and Hwanghae-do Mudang Gut Chum. Seoul and Hwanghae-do Mudang Gut Chums do not exist in the form of simple dance or movement. They feature continuity while serving the function of revealing the existence of spirit and sometimes show the process of the spirit joining the Gut ritual, which means that the Mudang Gut Chum should not be understood as the dance itself only. Instead, care attention should be paid to the status of the tune of Gut where the dance is placed, relationship between the gut and the spirit, and the flow of narrativity. Also, the Mudang Gut Chum has a lot to do with the tune. Looking at the Mudang Gut Chum simply focusing on dancing steps, and the movement of feet and/or hands fails to gain an accurate understanding of the fundamentals of the Mudang Gut Chum. Closely connected to the tune, which is also associated with the grade of the spirit, the dance shows a variety of performances conducted by entering the Gut ritual of the spirit. In that respect, complex views on the Mudang Gut Chum are required. The same applies to the hereditary shaman Mudang Gut as well. The Korean Mudang Gut Chum has a slight difference between the Gangshinmu gut and the hereditary gut but is in basically the same aspect. The Gut Chum holds its meaning in the flow of gutgeori (tune or dance performed during exorcism, a shaman song) and delivers its own meaning in connection with the tune. It is definitely meaningful to focus on the individual movements of a dancing shaman but one should be able to derive the network of meanings that such movements have within the performance of the gutgeori, which means that intensive studies on the field performance and circumstances should be completed before studying the Mudang Gut Chum. In addition, the Mudang Gut Chum discloses the characteristics of the performance group. The Mudang Gut Chum exists in a complex manner. With respects to the status of the spirit, it shows the characteristics of the performance group. It represents the progress of Gut while closely connected with the tune. Therefore, the way of describing the Mudang Gut Chum should be far more than just simply keeping the dance notations. With this in mind, one should investigate and record the Mudang Gut Chum.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.38
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• pp.349-383
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• 2019

This discussion is focused on Donghaeanbyulsingut's 'gutchum-pan to pray'. 'Gutchum-pan to pray' is repeated in almost all of the geori in Byulsingut, so it is a crucial chum-pan that can never be disregarded in understanding Byulsingutchum. Meanwhile, it supposes that Donghaeanbyulsingut is grounded on the activity of producing 'praying (words) and dance (motions)' within its relationship with the structure of capitalistic society along with the context of traditional rituals. The motion that is newly generated as a response to the concrete expression of 'praying' conducted by a mudang (a shaman), that is, the expression coming from the inside associated with the praying is seen as gutchum. This dance is bound to be in competition and interest among shaman groups, and they tend to influence one another. If praying leads to dance, a mudang can gain profits from capital as well as the value of labor. When the mudang succeeds in forming a bigger bond of sympathy with her praying, the object of praying gets more eager to select byulbi and dances a heoteunchum (impromptu dance) more vigorously. This means that a mudang's ability to perform a ritual is associated with the object of praying's consumption. With his impromptu motions, the object of praying comes to go into 'the field of consumption' within the structure of capitalistic competition before he is aware of it. Behind the communication that praying leads to dance, a lot of things are associated with one another organically. 'Gutchum-pan to pray' is generated by the continuous movement of diversity and unity that the time has within the ritual of the mudang and the object of praying. It continues to create the future 'self' that is different from the present 'self', and it means that he expects variability from the present 'self' through 'gutchum-pan to pray'. The mudang also prays for him arranging the variability of the other (the object of praying) inside her labor. In a big picture, of course, the mudang expects the variability of herself, too, which is connected to the value of her labor. The variability that they expect forms a crucial axis that determines where the flow of time and space that the 'gutchum-pan to pray' has is directed to. The contents of praying are directly related with the villagers' lives, and what leads to dance is mostly related with their jobs. This implies that what the mudang experiences in her everyday consuming activity is directly associated with the villagers' activity for earning money. In other words, the contents of that praying change constantly according to the flow of capitalistic economy. Also, those striving to respond to it before anyone else also expect better life for them by substituting their self to the 'gutchum-pan to pray' eagerly. If so, who are the ones that generate 'gutchum-pan to pray'? This can be understood through relationship among mudangs, relationship between the mudang and villagers, and also relationship among villagers. Their relationships can never be free from the concepts like labor in capitalistic society, consumption and expenditure, or time; therefore, they come to compete with the other, the present self, or the better self within the diverse relationships. This gets to be expressed in any ways, words or motions. And the range that covers the creation of either group or individual 'gutchum-pan to pray' in the village is the village community. Outside the range, it is upsized to the competition of the village unit, so individual praying may become diminished more easily. Although mudangs pray in each geori, it does not mean all praying leads to dance. Within various relationships between mudangs and villagers, 'gutchum-pan to pray' comes to be generated, repeated, and extinct. As it is mitigated to more positive competition, it does not lead to gutchum any longer. In other words, repeating 'gutchum-pan to pray' previously created has turned the object of praying into the state different from the former. Also, the two groups both have experienced the last step of Byulsingut, and at that point, praying does no longer lead to dance. In other words, from the position of the shaman group, it is the finish of their labor time and ritual performance, and from the perspective of the villagers, it means the finish of consuming activity and participation in a ritual. The characteristics of 'gutchum-pan to pray' can be summarized as follows. First, it goes through the following process: competition in the village group → competition in the group → competition among individuals. Second, repeated praying does not lead to 'gutchum'. Third, in the cases of praying for each of the occupation groups, the mudang can induce a bond of sympathy from the objects of praying directly, and this lead to dance. Fourth, the group that fails in being included in the category of praying gets to be alienated from 'gutchum-pan to pray' repeatedly.

• (The) Research of the performance art and culture
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• no.42
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• pp.233-256
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• 2021

The purpose of this article is to understand the characteristics and meanings of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum, or shamanic ritual dance. First, the characteristics of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum are summarized as follows. The regular dances that appear in all pieces of Gutgeori or the tune of Gut of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum feature Geosangchum, followed by domu and heojeonmu in the sequential order. The accompaniment rhythms are Geosang rhythm, Chum rhythm, and Yeonpung rhythm. The dance featuring mugu, or shaman implements held on shaman's hand as part of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum, which symbolizes the characteristics of deities, is the same as domu aligned with the dance rhythm and the whirling dance aligned with the Yeonpung rhythm. The name of mugu, mubok (shaman clothing) and/or deities may be used as the name of Gutchum but there is no originality of Gutchum. The Beokgu Chum and Samhyeon Chum as part of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum use Beockgu Jangdan and Samhyeon Jangdan, which deserves to have their originality acknowledged. Hwanghae-do Gutchum is closely related to the rhythm. The harmony of janggu player and a female shaman is essential in practicing the Hwanghae-do Gut. If a janggu player fails to perform to properly support the gut practice of a female shaman, the shaman is not able to proceed with a smooth practice and causes confusion. On the other hand, if the gut performance of a female shaman fails to catch up with the performance of janggu, the gut becomes plain and simple at best. Janggu is the single most important element that determines the success or failure of the Hwanghae-do Gutchum. A female shaman takes the harmony and collaboration with a janggu player so seriously that she is willing to reschedule the practice of gut if its schedule does not match that of the janggu player. The Hwanghae-do Gutchum is largely dependent on gyeolrye. However, the difference between the chum and the rhythm caused by gyeolrye has disappeared due to the intangible cultural assets. That is, designating an intangible cultural asset has resulted in eliminating all distinctive characteristics of Hwanghae-do Gutchum. With the distinction of gyeolrye becoming vague, they have lost interest in the genealogy of gut they have learned. It is no longer gyeolrye but the intangible cultural property system that serves as an important factor to distinguish chums.