남북한 통일 정책의 변화로 본 북한연극연구사

Abstract

What is noteworthy with regard to the researches related to North Korean theater is that there are periods in which the researches were actively made, there are particular periods that are excluded from research objects, and there are untapped territories in research themes. The periods in which the researches were actively made were the period from 1990 to1991 and from 1997 to 2004. The reason is that the July 7 declaration in 1988 and the ‘Korean race community unification plan’in 1989 caused the social sentiments toward North Korea to be transferred from cold war to dissolution,and expanded the interest in North Korea. The 1st South-North Korea high level talks held in Seoul on September 5, 1990 and the 2nd South-North Korea high level talks held in Pyeongyang on October 17 are the examples that show this fact. The publication of the books on the North Korean theater and art at intervals of 4 or 5 months for one year in 1990 is also related to this fact. The other period from 1997 to 2004 in which the researches were active belongs to the early and middle of the ‘entering period of reconciliation and cooperation,’and during this period, Kim Dae-jung government developed the engagement policy towards North Korea and promoted exchanges and cooperation in the economic area. What matters is that such attitudes of the government influence not only politics but also academic circles. It is because an absolutely isolated place does not exist in a society. Second, the reason for the existence of the period that is excluded from the research objects or of the period which did not draw the researchers’ interest is related to the availability of relevant data. The data related to the 1970s are the most and are easily available. It is because movierevolution, opera revolution, theater revolution took place in a row in the 1970s and North Korea itself calls this period the revolutionary period. Third, the reason for existence of untapped territories in theater themes is the characteristics of theater art whose creation and extinction occur simultaneously. Unlike movies, theater has no objectified texts. And it is also because researches related to North Korea began with political and socialaspects and literature. Due to the characteristics of North Korea where politics and art are not separated, political and social researches, researches on ideological implications form the main stream, and the start with the viewpoint of literature becomes the mechanism that produces researches on theater and play in large quantities. If so, what is the desirable environment for researches on North Korean theater? The ‘closed society’of North Korea makes it impossible for individual researchers to have academic delight and passion. As revealed in the course of making researches, the political and social environment has a profound effect on the researches on North Korea. Accordingly, consistent national supports are needed. And balanced researches are also needed. To achieve this, first, the viewpoints themselves should become diverse. Researches from the political and social viewpoint have been the mainstream up to the present, but in the future, they should be accompanied by researches from the viewpoint of theater and art.