Abstract

The purpose of this researcher was to describe and analyze the dynamics of three kinds of Korean shamanistic ritual performance of which the aim and results are explicitly cathartic. Catharsis is also the aim of practitioners of various psychotherapies. In aesthetics, catharsis has been claimed as a principle benefit of traditional theatre from Aristotle to the present as well as nonconventional, ritualistic theatre. Thus, through the identification of common cathartic-producing features found in the performer and/or audience of Korean shamanistic ritual performance--itself therapeutic and theatrical--practitioners of theatre and psychotherapy may come to understand, learn something of importance from, and perhaps even appropriate effective aspects of the transformative powers of shamanistic performance. ;Each chapter highlights the specific application of the term in context. In the first part of Chapter II, the Aristotelian concept of theatrical catharsis is shown to have roots in the Ur-drama of the Greek preclassical Dionysian worship and consequently emphasizes the ritualistic qualities which the later avant-garde twentieth century theatre practitioners adopted and used. In the second part of Chapter II, various psychotherapeutic uses of catharsis have been explored. The third part of Chapter II, explores the elements of shamanistic ritual performance, and more particularly, Korean shamanism. Korean shamanism, connected both historically and structurally with Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian theater, demonstrates the overlap of cathartic meaning between ritual and theater. ;In Chapter III, I describe the qualitative method employed that uses 40 face-to-face interviews, participant observation, and analysis of three Korean shamanistic performances which were documented on videotape. Chapter IV describes and analyzes the results of the various investigations and kinds of documentation mentioned above. Chapter V deals with the common catharsis-producing features of these ceremonies. The analysis utilizes all three of the aforementioned disciplines: theatre, therapy, and shamanistic performance