Abstract

KYUNG KANG, Eun; MONTALBAN PEREGRIN, F. Manuel  and  DOMENECH, Antonio J.. Korean Mask Theater: Its Reinterpretation and Transformation in Contemporary Theater. Estud. Asia Áfr. [online]. 2023, vol.58, n.2, pp.243-271.  Epub June 26, 2023. ISSN 2448-654X.  https://doi.org/10.24201/eaa.v58i2.2784.

This article studies the role played by mask theater in the transformation of Korean performing arts throughout the twentieth century, and its connections to modern and European drama. It analyzes the changes taking place in the periods that have marked the different stages of the performing arts within the Korean peninsula, and in particular in the Republic of Korea after the division of the country. The text examines the situation during Japanese colonization, and then it focuses on the development of contemporary theater in the years after the Korean War, from the dictatorship to the democratic period. There are examples of work by performing arts professionals to bring new forms of Korean theater to life. The theater adapted during this period to the historical, social, and cultural changes taking place in the peninsula.

Keywords : Korean mask theater; transformation; West; tradition; modernity.