관객 수용에서 바라본 일제강점기 한국 연극의 대중성

Abstract

The author in this study investigated the popularity of Korean dramas during Japanese colonial rule from the view of audience reception in three aspects. First, the ways of audience’s reception of interludes provided by popular dramatic companies. Interludes are a type of drama in order to simply arouse an interest in audience between acts. However, interludes were more popularized than main dramas, and some even visited theaters just to see interludes. Despite the fault that audience were indulged in retrogressive avoidance, interludes are significant in that their constant performances provided various interesting subjects. Second, the author identified ‘the Society of Research for Dramatic Art’ in 1930s with the mode of audience reception of popular dramatic companies. The Society of Research for Dramatic Art (극 예술연구회) was a representative dramatic company for realism, but after the performance of ‘Chun-hyang-geon’ in 1936, it began to focus on securing popularity through performances in grand theaters. Also, popular dramatic companies grew out of simple, retrogressive dramas and received more wide-ranged audience through well-formed dramas. However, in early 1940s of so-called an era of ‘the National dramas,’ only national dramas for openly promoting Japanese spirits, audience were regarded as a tool. It was recorded as the time of the biggest change in the history of Korean dramas. The audience during Japanese colonial rule were limited in various aspects, but they were reborn to be a