Korean Pansori as Voice Theatre: History, Theory, Practice

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Chan E. Park (Ohio State University, USA.) Simon Shepherd (Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London, UK)

Korean Pansori as Voice Theatre

History, Theory, Practice

Chan E. Park (Ohio State University, USA.), Simon Shepherd (Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London, UK)

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English

Methuen Drama
12 June 2025

Theatre Studies; Folk & traditional music; Asian history

Series: Forms of Drama

This book introduces readers to the historical, performative, and cultural context of pansori, a traditional Korean oral story-singing art.

Written by a scholar-practitioner of the form, this study is structured in three parts and begins by introducing readers to the technical, aesthetic, and theoretical components of pansori, as well as the synthesis of vocal and percussive elements that stage the narrative. It moves on to reflect on the historical contexts of pansori, alongside Korea’s transformation from Joseon monarchy to modern statehood. It argues that with colonial annexation came modernist influences that Korean dramatists and audiences used to create new genres of performance, using the common thread of pansori.

The book’s third part explores the interplay of preservation and innovation, beginning in the post-war period and continuing with developments in the 20th and 21st centuries that coincide with Korea’s imprint on cultural globalization. Along with Korea’s growth as a world economic center, a growing enthusiasm for Korean culture around the world has increased the transmission and visibility of pansori. This study argues that tradition and innovation are not as divergent as they are sometimes imagined to be and that tradition is the force that enables innovation. Drawing on Chan E. Park’s ethnographic work and performance practice, this book interweaves expert knowledge of both the textual and performative aspects of pansori, rendering legible this dramatic tradition.

By: Chan E. Park (Ohio State University USA.)
Series edited by: Simon Shepherd (Royal Central School of Speech & Drama University of London UK)
Imprint: Methuen Drama
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 126mm, Spine: 16mm
Weight: 260g
ISBN: 9781350431416
ISBN 10: 1350431419
Series: Forms of Drama
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 12 June 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Chan E. Park is a researcher and performer of pansori, and Professor Emeritus of Korean Literature and Performance at Ohio State University, USA. Her publications include Voices from the Straw Mat: Toward an Ethnography of Korean Story Singing (2003) and Songs of Thorns and Flowers: Bilingual Performance and Discourse on Modern Korean Poetry Series (2010-2015).

Reviews for Korean Pansori as Voice Theatre: History, Theory, Practice

""Chan E. Park's Korean Pansori as Voice Theatre offers a special journey into a distinctive Korean performance genre that mingles voice, rhythm, and gesture to populate and re-enliven the world of classic Korean tales. As both a scholar-ethnographer and as a seasoned performer of pansori, Park navigates a complex history, bringing her study into the present and engaging, first-hand, with some of the knotty issues at stake in heritage preservation."" --Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History ""Uniquely situated as a scholar of literature and theatre and as performer of pansori, raised in Korea, teaching at Ohio State, and lecturing and performing widely, Chan Park offers here an entr�e into the world of this remarkable genre, leading us through its technical basics and history to a nuanced consideration of its place in the 21st century. An engaging and fresh take on a genre she knows intimately."" --R. Anderson Sutton, Professor of Music & Chair, Ethnomusicology Program University of Hawai'i at Manoa, USA