1950년대 후반 라디오연속극의 영화화 경향 연구

Abstract

This study aims at exploring the trend from the 1956 to 1960 of making radio soap operas produced by the HLKA into films and the relevant discourse. During this period, 9 Sunday soap operas and 24 weekday soap operas were produced by the HLKA, except for special ones. With the "Cheongsil Hongsil (Blue Thread and Red Thread)" as a starting point, the huge popularity of radio soap operas can be attributable to the following three factors. First, broadcasting the series of radio soap operas was made possible when broadcasting facilities were restored and expanded after the end of the Korean War. Second, as the Korean society began to stabilize in the mid-1950s, radio soap operas reflected the new demand of listeners in a timely manner. Third, the radio soap opera boom was backed up by its media conversion into movies, a more popular entertainment media. Out of all radio soap operas produced at that time, 88.9% of Sunday soap operas and 66.7% of weekday soap operas were made into a movie. It is noticeable that these radio soap operas were promptly converted into a movie within two years of the end of the series. More specifically, 82% of them were made into a movie in the same year or the next year, and as much as 90 % were cinematized within two years. This rapid conversion into a movie was possible because scenarios were available as radio soap operas were continuously produced. In addition, the radio soap opera was regarded as a safe market that could guarantee a box office success. Lastly, filmmakers rushed to produce a movie out of a radio soap opera when its popularity is still high. In the late-1950s, both movies and radio soap operas experienced a rapid growth for the first time and faced many challenges as a result. The discourse on making radio soap operas into a movie was, first of all, about the inappropriate commercialism in the movie industry. As a new source of content, some radio soap operas were jumping on the bandwagon in the movie circles which selected scenarios recklessly and focused too much on commercial values. Writers of radio soap operas were actively involved in the process of making them into movies in order to improve overall conditions and prevent too much commercialism. Next, the discourse looked into whether the unique media characteristics of both a radio soap opera and a movie were properly conveyed. Apart from the inherent problems of the radio soap operas, the lack of technologies in visualizing the audio art of radio soap opera served as an obstacle to achieving the artistry and the popularity of the movies. Third, the production was mostly melodramas, so questions about their vulgarity were raised. Both radio soap operas and movies were criticized for their vulgar contents caused by limited subject matters and unsystematic story construction. This is the testament to the depreciating attitude toward popular art and the conservative enlightenment ideology dominating at that time under the name of the 'soundness'.