김명화 작품에 나타난 전쟁 기억의 재현 양상 - 「침향」, 「냉면」을 중심으로

Abstract

In Korean theater history, dramas that depict the Korean war have tended to show strong anticommunism. More recently, dramatists have begun to see the relationship between North and South Korea from a different perspective than simply a hostile relationship. In particular, Kim Myung-hwa's plays, “Chimhyang” and “Naengmyeon: Chimhyangoejeon,” are representative works on the subject of the Korean War created since the 2000s, and they show aspects of reproduction different from those of the plays of the past. “Chimhyang,” performed in 2008, considers how the scars of the war that still remain in a village can be overcome and how their meanings can be shared in the community. It also shows how to convey the meaning of the war to descendants. In addition, in “Naengmyeon: Chimhyangoejeon,” performed in 2018, from a more active position of the generation that hasn't experienced the war, the problems of memories and experiences become connected in a broader category related to the Korean War. In this way, it tells the audience that all of us are involved in the war, and at the same time, searches for ways to share the pain. Because the Korean War can be a strange and distant problem for the present generation, the play is a valuable attempt at meeting a new historical demand in a changed environment, as well as a deeper reflection on the meanings of the Korean War. Futhermore these changes in Korean theater in the representation of war have many implications for new efforts and attempts to remember the past.