Reflections on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Policy and Folk Culture Politics in the Postmodern Era: An Autoethnographic Account of the Reconstruction of Kasan Ogwangdae

Abstract

This study examines the study of folklore and the intangible cultural heritage policy of the Republic of Korea through the lens of the authors personal experience of reconstructing the mask dance drama Kasan Ogwangdae. Folklore studies in Korea have been rooted in nationalism for a long time and have served as the basis of the intangible cultural heritage policy. The policys aim is to preserve Korean culture by identifying valuable items of the countrys cultural heritage and by supporting and controlling them in the project of building a modern nation-state. Through use of autoethnography, this study illuminates the close relationship between folklore, the intangible cultural heritage policy, and folklore under government control. In the process, the personal experiences of the author in the 1970s are expanded upon through his research on mask dance dramas of the Japanese colonial period and the modern nationstate building project. This study also discusses the appropriation of rural folk knowledge by modern urban elite and emphasizes the need for further introspection in order to understand the postmodern world.