The Makkan Show
The Triumph of Korean Entertainment Theater (Taejung-gŭk) of the 1930s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.95.09Keywords:
Korean theater, popular theater, taejung-gŭk, makkan, Kim So-rangAbstract
The research subject of the article is the ‘makkan show’ (makkan-gŭk). It developed in the early 1930s as an integral part of Korean entertainment theater (taejung-gŭk). Initially, it included simple vocal songs and dialogue scenes presented by actors between different plays. As its popularity grew, it transformed into an autonomous show that combined vocal and dance performances, popular Western music, film, and most importantly, improvised satirical scenes, presented either solo or in duets. The ‘makkan show’ dominated the program of many taejung-gŭk companies and became a symbol of taejung-gŭk theater. The primary purpose of this article is to describe the ‘makkan show,’ explain the reasons of its popularity, and try to answer the question of whether its function was limited solely to entertainment purposes.
Downloads
References
Bab J., Teatr współczesny. Od Meiningeńczyków do Piscatora, przeł. E. Misiołek, Warszawa 1959.
Brown J.R. (ed.), Historia teatru, tłum. H. Baltyn-Karpinska, Warszawa 2007.
Carroll N., Filozofia sztuki masowej, przeł. M. Przylipiak, Gdańsk 2011.
Ch’oe Tong-hyŏn, Kim Man-su, “1930 nyŏndae yusŏnggi ŭmban e suroktoen mandam – nŏnsenŭ – sŭkech’i yŏgu” (Mandam, Nŏnsenŭ, Sŭkechi in the Phonography of the 1930s), Hanguk Kŭg’yesul Yŏn’gu, no. 7 (1997), pp. 61-94.
Freedman M., American Drama in Social Context, London–Amsterdam 1971.
Golka M. Socjologia kultury, Warszawa 2007.
Hertz A., „Zadania społeczne teatru”, in J. Degler (ed.), Odbiorcy dzieła teatralnego: widz – krytyk – badacz, Wrocław 1978 [1938], pp. 33-58, Wprowadzenie do nauki o teatrze, 3.
Hong Hae-sŏng, “Hŭnghaeng-gŭg ŭi chŏnghwa nŭn makkanmul ŭi p’yeji” (The Purification of Commercial Theater Requires the Elimination of Makkan), Tong-A Ilbo, I 1 1935, pp. 1-48, at https://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.naver?articleId=1935010100209205003&officeId=00020, 21 III 2025.
Hyelim Kim, “Interactive Music Masking Between Korean Traditional Music and Jazz,” The 9th Korean Studies Graduate Students Convention in Europe, University of Warsaw, 17-20 IX 2012.
Kang Ok-hoe, Yi Sun-jin, Yi Sŭng-hŭi, Yi Yŏng-mi (eds.), Singminji sidae taejung yesur’in sajŏn (Lexicon of Popular Entertainment Theater Artists from the Japanese Occupation Period), Seoul 2006.
Kim Chae-sŏk, “1930 nyŏndae yusŏnggi ŭmban ŭi ch’on’gŭk yŏn’gu” (Art of Ch’on’gŭk on Gramophone Records of the 1930s), Han’guk Kŭg’yesul Yŏn’gu, no. 2 (1995), pp. 55-57.
Kim Mi-do, Han’guk kŭndae-gŭk ŭi chaejonmyŏng (A New Approach to Korean Theater Kŭndae-gŭk), Seoul 1995.
Kim Nam-sŏk, Chosŏn ŭi taejung kŭktandŭl (30 nyŏndae) (Korean Taejung-gŭk Theater Companies: The 1930s), P’aju 2010.
Ko Sŏl-bong, Chŭng’ŏn yŏn’gŭk (Theater in the Eyes of Witnesses), Seoul 1990. Kłoskowska A., Kultura masowa, Warszawa 2005.
Leyko M., Wstęp, in M. Leyko (ed.), Teatr masowy – teatr dla mas, Łódź 2001, pp. 5-6.
“Maeil Shinbo” (28 VI 1931), in An Kwang-hŭi (ed.), Hanguk kŭndae yŏn’gŭk sa charyojip 4 (History of Korean Theater of the Kŭndae Period: A Collection of Source Materials, vol. 4), Seoul 2001.
“Maeil Shinbo” (5 XII 1931), in An Kwang-hŭi (ed.), Hanguk kŭndae yŏn’gŭk sa charyojip 4 (History of Korean Theater of the Kŭndae Period: A Collection of Source Materials, vol. 4), Seoul 2001.
Morin E., Duch czasu, tł. A. Frybesowa, Kraków 1965.
Pavis P., Słownik terminów teatralnych, przeł., oprac. i przypisami opatrzył S. Świontek. Wrocław 2002.
Ratajczakowa D., „Teatr wielkiej liczby. Próba spojrzenia”, in: M. Leyko (ed.), Teatr masowy – teatr dla mas, Łódź 2001, pp. 7-23.
Rynarzewska E., Teatr uwikłany. Koreańska sztuka teatralna i dramatyczna w latach 1900-1950, Warszawa 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31338/uw.9788323520375
Rynarzewska E., “The Identity of Paradoxes in Contemporary Korean Theater: Ideals Versus Realities,” Rocznik Orientalistyczny, vol. 77, no. 1 (2024), pp. 122-139, http://dx.doi.org/10.24425/ro.2024.150679. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24425/ro.2024.150679
Sim Hun, “Tonggwang” (1 X 1932), in An Kwang-hŭi (ed.), Hanguk kŭndae yŏngŭk sa charyojip 5 (History of Korean Theater of the Kŭndae Period: A Collection of Source Materials, vol. V), Seoul 2001.
Sŏ Yŏn-ho, Hanguk yŏn’gŭk sa – kŭndae p’yŏn (History of Korean Theater – Kŭndae Period). Seoul 2003.
“Tong-A Ilbo” (30 V 1931), in An Kwang-hŭi (ed.), Hanguk kŭndae yŏn’gŭk sa charyojip 4 (History of Korean Theater of the Kŭndae Period: A Collection of Source Materials, vol. 4), Seoul 2001.
Yang Sŭng-guk, “1930 nyŏndae taejung-gŭg ŭi kujo wa t’ŭksŏng” (Construction and Characteristics of the Popular Entertainment Theater of the 1930s), Ulsan Ŏmun Nonjip, no. 12 (1997), pp. 125-201.
Yang Sŭng-guk, Han’guk hyŏndae hŭigongnon (A Monograph on Contemporary Korean Drama), Seoul 2001.
Yi Sŭng-hŭi, “Yŏsŏng sunan sŏsa wa kabujangje ideollogi – 1910 nyŏndae mellodŭrama-rŭl chungshim-ŭro” (The Image of Women’s Suffering and Patriarchal Ideology in the Melodrama of the Second Decade), Sanghŏ Hakpo, no. 10 (2003), pp. 345-374.
Yu Ch’i-jin, Tongnang Yu Ch’i-jin chŏnjip 7 (Collected Works of Yu Ch’i-jin-Tongnang, vol. 7), Seoul 1993.
Yu Min-yŏng, Han’guk kŭndae yŏn’gŭk sa (History of Korean Theater of the Kŭndae Period), Seoul 1996.
Yu Min-yŏng, Han’guk inmul yŏn’gŭk sa 1, 2 (History of Korean Theater Artists, vol. I, II), Seoul 2006.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
