1960년대 ‘연극 대중화’ 운동과 ‘대중’ 담론

Abstract

It is generally known that the 1960's was one of the most significant periods in Korean theatrical history. Over the course of this decade, Korean theater changed from modern to contemporary. Among the symptoms of this change were the appearance of a new generation and new theater companies, the pursuit of anti-realist theater, and the emergence of interest in the populace. Inevitably, serious conflicts and confusions arose in dramatic circles, specifically between the old generation and the new generation, between realism and anti-realism, and between commercialism and art-for-art’s-sake. More significantly, this research assumes that the transformation of Korean drama was caused by a change in consciousness for both producers(theater people) and consumers (audiences), both of whom grew increasingly concerned with the new issue of ‘the populace,’ as opposed to the traditional issue of the nation. In analyzing this transformation, this research attempted to find its internal and ultimate motive by exploring the movement of ‘theater popularization’ and the discourse concerning ‘the populace.’ In concrete terms, this research investigated the diverse aspects of theatrical movements for the populace that have been practiced by the dominant theater companies called ‘Sinhyeup’, ‘Sanha’, ‘Minjung’, and ‘Silhum’. In addition, this study analyzed the discourses in which the artistic directors (Hearang Lee, Bumsuk Cha, Keunsam Lee) and those companies declared their own theatrical purposes. As a result of this extensive exploration, this research arrived at the following conclusions. First, throughout the 1960's, the populace was generally recognized as the audience in terms of admission receipts. But the specific audiences for whom each of the artistic directors produced were quite different from one another. In this respect, the popular theater that those directors and companies pursued implied different meanings: theater for a large number of audiences, simple and easy theater, theater in accordance with modern taste and sensibilities, and so on. For this reason, the popular theater ironically displayed each different form as realism and anti-realism. Second, these differences seem to relate to a generational shift. That is to say, the new generation and the old generation regarded the populace and the popular theater from different viewpoints. This difference in viewpoint is significant because it enables us to understand both theatrical phenomena. On one hand, it presents the particularity of 1960's theater, such as its conflicts and confusions, in terms of theatrical forms and techniques for the popular theater. On the other hand, it allows us to infer the reason why the form of Korean theater would change from singular to diverse: from realist theater to various kinds of anti-realism, such as the epic theater or the absurd theater of the 1970's. Finally, the change in producer and audience consciousness toward the populace and the popular theater injected diversity and modernity into 1960's theater. More specifically, the diversity reflected the various theater producers’ different viewpoints, and the modernity resulted from theater people’s strugglesto meet the desires and needs of the populace.