구별짓기와 위계화 -극예술연구회의 문화정치와 신극의 정체성

Abstract

The Keukyeon, organized by prominent intellectuals, was able to enter the center of the Korean theater community in a short time, using the expectations of those who wanted to see theater as a serious art. In particular, the research and criticism focused immediately after the emergence of Keukyeon were areas that were pointed out as weaknesses of the new drama movement in the previous era, so it was an activity that matched the goal of "re-starting the new drama movement." However, Keukyeon gradually began to increase the proportion of performances, showing a breakaway from its initial goal. The Keukyeon aimed to drive the level of popular theater companies, but shortly afterwards, they stopped criticizing popular theater companies' performances and attempted to distinguish between new drama and commercial plays by using the dichotomy. This aspect was further strengthened when the capabilities of the popular drama community were gathered with the birth of the Dongyang Theater, and the Keukyeon declared its second period of activities, increasing the chance of performances. However, as potential conflicts between members of the Keukyeon were expressed, and intermediate drama discourse that disturbed the dichotomy between the new drama and the commercial plays was highlighted, the cultural politics of the Keukyeon were bound to face a crisis. The Keukyeon implemented a hierarchical strategy to include a large number of organizations that advocated intermediate drama within the category of the new drama and to place the Keukyeon at the peak of the new drama community, but this rather exposed the vulnerability of the Keukyeon.