The Tale of the Three Young Brothers: an Analytical Study of Music and Communal Joy (Hŭng) in Korean Folk Culture

When discussing the essential characteristics of traditional Korean folk music, Korean musicians and scholars often refer to the emotional states of han and hüng - forms of suffering and communally experienced joy, respectively. This article focusses in particular on hǔng (communal joy), exploring what this state involves, introducing the traditional performance contexts that are particularly associated with it and then investigating how musicians contribute towards its growth, via detailed analysis of a single case-study musical performance: the 'Tale of the Three Young Brothers', as sung by a (usually female) Korean shaman (mudang) to the accompaniment of a double-headed hourglass drum (changgó) and large gong (ching). Step-by-step analysis attempts to reveal the complex relationships among song text, rhythm, performative behaviour and emotions, showing how musicians and audience members work together to evince a dramatic transformation from a condition of oppression (han) to one of liberation.