판소리 <적벽가>의 형성과 향유층에 대한 再論

Abstract

Pansori “Jeokbyeokga” (Song of the Red Cliffs) has a different origin that sets it apart from the other pansori pieces, which had generally been generated by combining folk tales with songs and included the public consciousness from the onset. When pansori such as “Chunghyangga” gained their popularity, with the growing demand from the audience, the most famous and intriguing part from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms had been extracted and combined with songs to be created as pansori. Also, as pansori developed into a home entertainment, the audience became limited to the wealthy who could invite the entertainers home. Thus, “Jeokbyeokga” developed by adding stories that responded to the demands of the wealthy male audiences. To discuss its value as a popular literature that represents the impoverished lower class through “The Soldier’s Lamentation” (Gunsa seorum taryeong) is, therefore, to overlook the particularity of this pansori piece. While these soldiers may have been impoverished at first, they have worked hard to make their fortune and were living by the proprieties of the ministers and high officials without any worries about making ends meet. Hence, to the famished lower class, these people, who have somehow accumulated wealth, were part of the ruling class. Then, why did these people enjoy pansori that rebuked and made a caricature of themselves? Because the rich had become the target of exploitation by the local officials as the wealthy households were forced into sharing their wealth under the pretext of poor relief. In particular, the version of “Jeokbyeokga” organized by Shin Jae-hyo, who was a local clerk, contains a number of parts that rebuke and ridicule wealthy soldiers and General Cao Cao. Yet, other versions of this pansori piece include less of such content and display Liu Bei’s love for the people through deoneum, new parts of a pansori song inserted and revised by master singers to add their individuality. It is because “Jeokbyeokga” has undergone transformations to at times represent the wealthy audience, and at others to reflect the demands of the times that had been triggered by rebellions and foreign invasions.