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Homecoming Recitals in Christian South Korea

Bibliographic Data

ID19175806
AuthorsNicholas Harkne (0000-0001-6415-7486, corresponding author), Nicholas Harkness
Year2012
Volume17
Issue2
Pages351-381
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe journal of Korean studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0731-1613 • E-ISSN: 2158-1665
PublisherRowman & Littlefield (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/jks.2012.0026
OpenAlexW2052807840
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited18

"Homecoming Recitals" ( kwiguk tokch'anghoe ) in South Korea are events in which singers of European-style classical music, after having studied and worked professionally abroad, return home and are integrated into the social and musical life of Seoul. This article explores what appear to be blatant contradictions in the key elements of the recital. Although the recitals are presented as public events and the singers as professionals, the audience consists almost entirely of persons related to the singer through kinship, school, or church. And although the recitals consist of secular art and operatic music, they almost always end with an encore featuring a Christian hymn or song. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in the churches and colleges of music in Seoul, I explain how these seemingly contradictory elements, in fact, work together in the ritual function of the recital, which I argue is to manage the transition from "abroad" to "home" by producing transformative effects for both performer and audience

Art · Ethnography · Homecoming · Hymn · Literature · Musical · Narrative · Performing arts · Sociology · Transformative learning · Visual arts · Anthropology · Asian Culture and Media Studies · History · Japanese History and Culture · Socioeconomic Development in Asia