The Sound of Han: P'ansori, Timbre and a Korean Ethos of Pain and Suffering

Abstract

I live in the heart of Seoul, Korea. I am riding across town in a taxi listening to the music that the driver is playing too loudly. I hear a man's voice, it is harsh and certain tones are punctuated, as if his heart is broken and he is crying out in anguish. Perhaps he is merely untrained and has just been smoking too much. But by now I know there is more to it than that; he must have developed that sound over years of intense training. The driver turns the volume down slightly and asks me why I am living in Korea. I explain that I am here to study traditional Korean folk music. The driver immediately begins a rather typical commentary on Korean music and its relation to history. He explains that the Korean people, throughout their long and glorious 5000 year history have had to endure many hardships, some at the hands of others, and as such a great deal of Korean music is filled with han – the music itself acting as a catharsis. Little did this man know that that is exactly what I came to Korea to investigate. Unfortunately, we reach my destination before I could ask him the crucial question — What does han sound like?

Korean Han and the Postcolonial Afterlives of "The Beauty of Sorrow"

“…The development of national culture also has been very important in government policy, from the first republic with President Rhee Syngman and onward with every administration after that, establishing a practice of heavy government subsidy in the cultural sector (Yim, 2002). Some contend that it was during the Park Chung Hee regime that the idea of han transformed from a personal sense of sorrow and resentment to a broader, national experience of unrelenting suffering and injustice (Willoughby, 2000;Killick, 2003). In general, the desire for cultural reclamation was universally championed by the powerful and the powerless alike, and the embrace of han as Korea's national ethos served even opposing political discourses.…”

“…Pansori, a popular Korean art of musical storytelling that originated in seventeenth-century Korea, has come to be considered a ''national'' art and symbol of a supposed pure Korean essence. It is frequently referred to as ''the sound of han'' (Willoughby, 2000).…”

Key Papers on Korea: Essays Celebrating 25 Years of the Centre of Korean Studies, SOAS, University of London

“…The portrayal of the rough life of soldiers and their morals in times of war directly intertwines with Chinese historical chronicles, as the title Chŏkpyŏkka, translated as 'The Red Cliff,' indicates. 2 Song Sunsŏp [master p'ansori singer], personal communication, 2011 3 For more on the notion of 'han' see the work of Heather Willoughby 2002. This repertoire also resembles Sugungga in its portrayal of obedience and dutifulness. In a rather controversial statement, one informant told me that Chŏkpyŏkka could not be sung by women because their understanding of male chivalry and bonding would greatly differ to that of men -who would not have to imagine it at all.…”

Embodying the Countryside in ʿAiṭa Ḥaṣbawiya (Morocco)

“…"I used to sing by the seaside, where I could open up my voice and feel the salty air coming through," 'Aicha commented. If, on the one hand, it is known that such air can relax and open up breathing-as well as alleviate the constant problems the shikhat experience with their throats-on the other hand, it is also known that similar practices used by singers of Korean p 'ansori allow them to strengthen the voice and to obtain the desired harsh or rough timbral qualities (see Willoughby 2000).…”