연극론 『연극예술에 대하여』의 특성 연구

Abstract

This study aims to closely read Kim Jong-il’s “About Stage Drama Arts” and disclose the new reality as evaluated by him. The study took the method by which to compare Kim Jong-il’s theory on drama and North Korea’s drama theory in the 1950s, and the findings of this study revealed that it was irrational to grant the adjective “new” to Kim Jong-il’s drama theory. This is because tradition inheritance and newness cross each other. First, his tradition inheritance aspect was found in his playwriting method. In playwriting method, Kim Jong-il’s argument about characters and language is an extension of the 1950s drama theory, and his theory on JongZa(seeds) is the transformation of the concept proposed in the 1950s. Also, the expression means of dramas and drama arts is dialogue, and his guideline to focus on the art of conversation rather than on acting is interpreted to be a reduced concept of drama arts, compared with the 1950s drama theory. On the other hand, his newness aspect can be clearly discovered in the materialization of stage. The fixed stage background, without dark change, shifts to another situation as it is, and this stage setting is clearly distinguished from the previous stage setting. The attempt is worth highly evaluating to allow the stage to reflect actors’ emotional flows and let them act. Also, the attempt is distinctively distinguished from previous drama theories to allow the chorus’ positive involvement in dramas so as to directly deliver characters’ emotions to the audience and to trigger the audience’ response as intended by creators. From the perspectives of drama evaluation, Kim Jong-il’s theory and practice regarding stage and music is understood to maximize the audio-visual effects. Therefore, Kim Jeong-il’s drama theory, as he argues, is not a completely new theory, but a transformational inheritance of existing drama theories, and a creation theory with focus on expansion of spectacles.