Bryce Mangelson and Dr. Greg Thompson, Anthropology Department

Introduction

Current scholarship about Korea recognizes the importance that han has on Korean culture. Han is a feeling of melancholy and sadness that stems from constant suppression and opposition. Han is discussed within a historical context of political oppression from foreign countries such as China and Japan.

In my ethnographic study, I found an additional concept called heung that plays a pivotal role in the Korean culture. Heung is the collective energy and joy that motivates celebrations and builds solidarity within the community. Heung is underrepresented in the literature sounding Korean culture even though it is a critical Korean concept. These two moods create a dialectic tension that simultaneously provide a framework for cultural reproduction of the individual moods as well as the motivation for cultural change. Charles Nuckolls forwards a theory of culture as a system of dialectics in which culture is created by dialectical tension. Korean culture is not just han, nor is it just heung, but the tension between the two.

I found that han and heung are not just moods that are felt, but they must be done. They are embodied moods that are explicitly present in Korean music and dance performances. In addition to music and dance being an important location for the reproduction of han and heung, I found primary school children are socialized into han and heung in the classroom.

Methodology

I used ethnographic research methods. Structured and semi-structured interviews in conjunction with participant observation provided the bulk of my data. Due to the importance of han and heung in music and dance I observed over half a dozen performances and participated in 20 different dance classes of various styles. I interviewed my fellow dancers and instructors. In addition to spending time in dance studios, I spent over 135 hours in elementary school classrooms observing how the students are socialized into these moods. I interviewed with various teachers and the vice principle of the school.

After my 2-month period gathering data in Seoul, Korea, I analyzed the qualitative data in MAXQDA. I instituted two different coding styles. My first read through, I used open coding and looked for any themes in the data. My second read through my data, I took the main themes and coded for those themes again.

Results

My observations in the dance and interviews verified the presence of han as both an important mood and aesthetic in the dances and classrooms, and I also identified heung as an equally important mood and aesthetic.

While all forms of dance contain elements of both han and heung, each style of dance tends to focus on one of these moods. Shamanistic dances such as Salpuri and singing styles such as Pansori are heavily centered on han while farmer’s dances such as Pungmul and recent dance styles such as K-pop focus on heung.

Elementary school students are also being socialized into the proper expression of both these moods. They are taught proper expression of han by teaching the proper way to respond to criticism and punishment. They are also taught the appropriate times that they can express heung.

It is evident that new styles of dance that there is a focus on heung; performances are trying to blend k-pop with traditional styles in what is called “Fusion” dance styles. The new performances create stronger feelings of heung than in the previously han-centric styles.

Discussion

Scholarship has traditionally focused on the importance of han in Korean culture as both a permeating mood and an aesthetic. This feeling of sadness, oppression and melancholy stemmed from generations of oppression and war, but when scholars studied the historical record they found that Korea was only oppressed three times over the thousands of years of history. The prevalence of han does not come entirely from outside oppression, but through its dialectical tension with heung. These two opposing values solidify their importance in society as they are reproduced; as events in society shape contemporary moods, the expression and focus of each mood also shifts.

Conclusion

As Korea begins to move past its recent history of colonization by the Japanese and the aftermath of the Korean war, they are beginning to enter a period of growth and development. The previous research was based in sentiments of han that followed the war and colonization, but as Korea gains independence and prosperity they are beginning to enter a period of heung. A heungcentric mentality is producing new music and dance that emphasizes the energy and excitement of a new era, but han and heung will always be connected. Han is still present in music and dance, and in Korean culture generally. As these moods are performed in both music and dance as well as in daily life, both han and heung are present and influencing the mood and actions.