Tradition and Creativity in Korean Taegŭm Flute Performance describes the taegŭm as a representation of Korean culture in the contemporary world. Through the development and performance of creative works, this horizontal bamboo flute reflects both tradition and contemporary creativity. The first part of the book outlines the historical background of the taegŭm. The author illuminates … [Read More]
Booklist: Traditional Korean Music
Sound of the Border: Music and Identity of Korean Minority Nationality in China
Using ethnographic data collected in China and South Korea between 2004 and 2011, Sound of the Border provides a comprehensive view of the music of Koreans in China (Chaoxianzu), from its time as manifestation of a displaced culture to its return home after more than a century of amalgamation and change in China. As the first English-language … [Read More]
Routledge Handbook of Contemporary South Korea
The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary South Korea offers a ground-breaking study of the socio-political development of the Korean peninsula in the contemporary period. Written by an international team of scholars and experts, contributions to this book address key intellectual questions in the development of Korean studies, projecting new ways of thinking about how international systems … [Read More]
Presence Through Sound: Music and Place in East Asia
Presence Through Sound narrates and analyses, through a range of case studies on selected musics of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Tibet, some of the many ways in which music and ‘place’ intersect and are interwoven with meaning in East Asia. It explores how place is significant to the many contexts in which music is made … [Read More]
Hanyang Kut: Korean Shaman Ritual Music from Seoul
From the publisher’s website: This volume, first published in 2002, presents a sophisticated analysis of the musical instruments, repertoires, musicians and ensembles, and symbolism of the ritual music of Shamans of Seoul, Korea. Placed firmly in a social and historical context, it shows that Shamanism, considered superstition by many today, is alive and well in … [Read More]
Salpuri-Chum, A Korean Dance for Expelling Evil Spirits: A Psychoanalytic Interpretation of its Artistic Characteristics
From the publisher’s website: This book is a study of Salpuri-Chum, a traditional Korean dance for expelling evil spirits. The authors explore the origins and practice of Salpuri-Chum. The ancient Korean people viewed their misfortunes as coming from evil spirits; therefore, they wanted to expel the evil spirits to recover their happiness. The music for … [Read More]
Gugak: Traditional Korean Music Today
From the publisher’s website: Over the course of Korean history, gugak – traditional Korean music – developed in an intimate relationship with the lives of the people. During the 20th century, however, the introduction of capitalism coupled with a rapid influx of Western culture erected a barrier between Korea’s traditional music and daily experience. Still, … [Read More]
Hwang Byungki: Traditional Music and the Contemporary Composer in the Republic of Korea
From the publisher’s website: Anyone who knows anything of Korean music probably knows something of Hwang Byungki. As a composer, performer, scholar, and administrator, Hwang has had an exceptional influence on the world of Korean traditional music for over half a century. During that time, Western-style music (both classical and popular) has become the main … [Read More]
Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage: Policy, Ideology, and Practice in the Preservation of East Asian Traditions
Focussing on music traditions, these essays explore the policy, ideology and practice of preservation and promotion of East Asian intangible cultural heritage. For the first time, Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan – states that were amongst the first to establish legislation and systems for indigenous traditions – are considered together. Calls to preserve the intangible … [Read More]
Music in Korea: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture
From the publisher’s website: Despite its longstanding position as a distinct cultural force in East Asia, Korea continues to be underrepresented in world music texts. Music in Korea is the first brief, single-volume text to provide a thematic, succinct introduction to the music of Korea—a region whose volatile political climate has often overshadowed its rich cultural and … [Read More]
Hearts of Pine: Songs in the Lives of Three Korean Survivors of the Japanese Comfort Women
From the publisher’s website: In the wake of the wartime experience of sexual slavery for the Japanese military during the Asia-Pacific War (1930-45), Korean survivors lived under great pressure not to speak about what had happened to them. These sexual slaves were known as “comfort women,” and this book brings us into the lives of … [Read More]
Music of the Korean Renaissance: Songs and Dances of the Fifteenth Century
From the publisher’s website: Koreans of the fifteenth century recorded for posterity a large body of music which has been preserved to the present day. This book presents that music in transcription, with an introductory section providing detailed background on the music itself and on the sources, the song texts, court dances, musical instruments and … [Read More]
Korean Kayagum Sanjo: A Traditional Instrumental Genre
From the publisher’s website: The Korean genre of sanjo is today one of the most popular genres of traditional music, taught in schools and universities within Korea, and a staple of national and international performance tours. Sanjo comprises a set of related pieces for solo melodic instrument and drum. A number of ‘schools’ (ryu) are … [Read More]
Preserving Korean Music: Intangible Cultural Properties as Icons of Identity
As Korea has developed and modernized, music has come to play a central role as a symbol of national identity. Nationalism has been stage managed by scholars, journalists and, from the beginning of the 1960s, by the state, as music genres have been documented, preserved and promoted as ‘Intangible Cultural Properties’. Practitioners have been appointed … [Read More]
Great Journeys of the World
From the dust jacket: In Great Journeys of the World, six talented individuals – among them writers and actors, a poet and a musician – embark on journeys of special interest in some of the most spectacular parts of the world. … In Korea, the world’s leading solo percussionist, Evelyn Glennie, explores Korea’s musical culture … [Read More]