Arirang as the Cultural Code of the 21st Century North Korea*

서지정보

ㆍ발행기관 : 건국대학교 통일인문학연구단 ㆍ수록지정보 : 통일인문학 / 2권 / 1호
ㆍ저자명 : Jeona Young-Sun

목차

1. Introduction
2. The Sentiments of 'Arirang' and the Mass Gymnastics andArtistic Performance Arirang
3. The Essence of Arirang and Its Modernization
4. Nationalistic Discourse of 'Arirang'
5. Conclusion
Works Cited

영어 초록

Arirang of North Korea is a major performance of the country, known externally in the form of Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance. It is unprecedented for a large-scale performance, as North Korea's Arirang, to be staged regularly for several years. The performance started in 2002, as a celebration commemorating the 90th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sŏng. When it was first being prepared, the title of the performance was The Song of the First Sun. It is quite significant that North Korea changed the name of the performance from The Song of the First Sun, which symbolizes Kim Il-Sŏng, to Arirang, which symbolizes the sentiments of the Korean people. It is unknown when the folksong 'Arirang' started to be sung, however, it is clearly a song that reflects the age-old sentiments of the Korean people. After the song was played when athletes of the two Koreas made their joint entrance during the Sydney Olympics in September 2000, it became symbolic of the Korean people together with the Peninsula Flag, and was used whenever there was a joint entrance of North and South athletes or joint cheering of the crowds. While there are many interpretations on the origins of Arirang, it is considered, in North Korea, to be a song with nationalistic sentiments and a sense of resistance of the people.
The Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang got its motif from the song 'Arirang', which symbolizes the hardships of the Korean people. However, Arirang suggests that North Koreans should not simply stop at expressing sorrowful sentiments of the folksong they must venture onto the road toward a Powerful Great Nation. The performance contains the message that, just as the Korean people had overcome hardships and suffering by singing the 'Arirang' together, the difficulties faced by the North Korean regime should also be surmounted through Arirang. At the time the performance Arirang was staged, there were many artistic works including popular songs, novels and poems being created with the theme of 'Powerful and Prosperous Revival', which the essence of Arirang. At the same time, the performance contains the discourses of 'Arirang People' and 'People of the Sun'. North Korea's full-fledged promotion of the concept of the 'Arirang People' deviates from its previous perspective of considering North Koreans and South Koreans to be the one ethnic group. In other words, it was the starting point of North Korea strengthening a discriminatory from of nationalism, moving away from its previous perspective that the people of both Koreas constituted a single ethnic group. The two Koreas were considered to be of the same ethnicity before, but now, North Korea is trying to articulate, through Arirang, its idea that 'South Korean society has become multi-ethnic and lost its ethnic purity, so ethnic purity lies with the North Korean people (the Kim Il-Sŏng people)'.

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