Sesŭmmu. Distinction, debate and features of hereditary mudang in Korea

Current results in both theoretical and fieldwork in shamanism in Korea are getting closer to the unity about origins and state of kangshinmu and sesŭmmu, the two types of mudang. Our aim is to specify the differences based on the latest research results and to show the development of overlapping between them through the changing process of their position in today society. We emphasize the characteristics of the sesŭmmu which is disappearing or melting into a modern mixed mudang form. From a historical perspective differentiation could have evolved because of a kind of syncretism as a consequence of the different cultural traditions’ meeting thus modern situation can be seen as the sequence of historical process

Archaeology · Art · Epistemology · Ethnology · Genealogy · Linguistics · Shamanism · Sociology · Anthropology · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices