Staging "Civilization and Enlightenment"—Yi Kwang-su's Kyuhan and the Communicability of Modern Theater Space

Abstract:

Under the banner of civilization and enlightenment, new-intellectuals of the early twentieth century sought to challenge damaging past traditions and social practices to give rise to a new era for the people of Korea. Coinciding with this push toward modern progress, the theater simultaneously arose as a new feature of the urban landscape. Writers like Yi Kwang-su stressed the communicative potential of new literary trends. He was one of the earliest to turn to drama as a means of shaping a future Korea; he utilized the palpable realism fostered by stage space as a means to channel his progressive ideas to society. Published in Hakjigwang in 1917, Kyuhan (Sorrows of the Inner Room), potentially Korea's first modern play, is a work that frankly portrays the damages of dated Confucian moralities and traditions. In penning a drama that brings the modern Chosŏn intellectual of Yi's urban audience into a uniquely female space of domesticity, pain and subalternity, the audience becomes privy to the bitter realities of Chosŏn women and the importance of autonomy, education and true love. Through discussions on heterotopic space, spectatorship and the relationship between actor and audience, this study will explore Kyuhan and the birth of the modern stage. In this, we come understand Yi's vision of theater as a new site for enlightenment progress that could shock and provoke the public into action.