The Sonic Habitus of Silk and Wood: Gugak's 21st Century Terrain

Abstract

Transformations in Korean traditional musics social and cultural capital echo the Republic of Koreas breathtakingly rapid contemporary developments. Mid-20th century, the countrys traditional music faced a conundrum: selective resuscitation within a restrictive space of tradition. Since then, many musicians and composers have extended the boundaries of tradition, manipulating the success of cultural trends to build new platforms for gugak in contemporary Korea. Yet, gugak remains subject to long-standing cultural prejudice, placing it in an underdog position within the music market. Underscoring gugaks contributions to a core Korean aesthetic serves as one apparatus in fighting such prejudice. This aesthetic celebrates nature and collective emotion, as well as gugaks precious fragility in the contemporary music market.

Inspired by the researchers ongoing research on conceptual and visual communication in performance, the paper considers use of physical space as a mark of distinction and status in Korean traditional music performance. The paper examines the restoration of acoustic space in contemporary performance, from the concert stage to the refurbished hanok, as crucial to gugaks developing 21st century sonic identity. Far from an unbiased and detached physical realm, the acoustic space becomes meaningful in the act of performance just as it lends meaning to a musical event. Debates regarding amplification, or absence thereof, in addition to ideal stage materials and design, relate closely to contemporary ideals of gugaks authentic sound. The act of performance draws performers and audience alike into an interpretive performance space, reinforcing the moments contributions to a Korean socio-historic sonic experience.