Shamanism in Korean Hamlet s since 1990: Exorcising Han
Asian Theatre Journal March 1, 2011 DOI: 10.1353/atj.2011.0015 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Citations | 12 |
| Key points | Argues that prominent Korean Hamlet productions from 1993 to 2007 use shamanistic rituals such as the gut, in which a shaman appears possessed, to exorcise the pain of a people who have suffered through colonialism, war, dictatorship, and the IMF crisis. The paper connects these shamanistic Hamlets to Korean shamanism and the indigenous sentiment of han, an emotion of pain and regret, and links their emergence to 1990s democratization, globalization, and expanded freedom. |
Abstract
During the Korean Shakespeare boom of the last twenty years, Hamlet has been performed more than any other drama. Hamlet productions admired by Korean audiences and critics have, like other successful Shakespeare productions in the same period, shared a common tendency for Koreanization in respect of style and theme. The Koreanization of Hamlet productions, in particular, is closely connected with shamanism. The most prominent of Hamlet productions since the 1990s stage rituals like the gut —in which a shaman appears to be possessed. Looking back over the hundred-year history of Hamlet in the modern Korean theatre, this paper argues that these shamanistic Hamlet s, which have emerged with democratization, globalization, and the extended freedom of the 1990s, serve to exorcise pain of a people who have suffered from the problems of "to be or not to be" through times of colonialism, war, dictatorship, and IMF crisis. Examining the major Hamlet productions (1993-2007), this paper explains the relationship between Hamlet and Korean shamanism, which is closely connected with Korean people's han , an indigenous sentiment of pain and regret.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Shamanism as the Original Neurotheology | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cognitive Neuroscience, Shamanism and the Rock Art of Native California | 1998 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From Culture to Experience: Shamanism in the Pages of the Soviet Anti-Religious Press | 2020 | Historical analysis | |
| Anthropology, Shamanism, and Alternate Ways of Knowing–Being in the World: One Anthropologist's Journey of Discovery and Transformation | 2010 | Reflective essay or personal narrative |