“Sacred and Profane in Korean Shamanism.”
Dr. Yong-Shik Lee, Faculty of Music Visiting Scholar from Chonnam National University of Korea
The Korean shaman ritual, called kut, is not only a solemn ritual but also a joyful gathering of the family and community members who participate in the ritual. A ritual for the dead, for example, is held to console the soul of the dead and the living with various music, dance, and drama. In a sense, a proverb, “watching kut (ritual) and eating ddeok (rice cake) at the same time” during a ritual, shows the dual characteristics of the shaman ritual. Music, the core element to invoke and entertain the deities during a ritual, plays a significant role to enhance the dual nature of Korean shamanism. It exhibits dual traits—strict formality and artistic creativity—in accordance with its function and usage during a ritual. Two different kinds of shaman, the spirit-descended shaman and the hereditary shaman, enhance the dual nature of the music in a ritual.
Yong-Shik Lee graduated from Seoul National University and received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He was the Head Director of the National Gugak Center and is currently Associate Professor at Chonnam National University. He is the Chief Editor of the Society for Korean Musicology and the Vice President of the Society for the Study of Korean Performing Arts. He is the writer of numerous monographs and articles including Korean Shaman Ritual Music (2004), Ethnomusicology of Hwanghae Provincial Shamanism (2005), Folk, Culture, and Music (2006), The Root of Korean Music, Shamanism(2009), History and Theory of Farmers’ Band Music (2015), Musical Anthropology (2018), among others.Room 130, 80 Queen's Park
Free and open to the public. Presentation will be followed by a casual reception.