Korea is a country in which “tradition” is dealt with dynamically within its postcolonial historical experience. In Korean society, tradition is maintained or utilized in a unique way, which is clearly reflected in Korea's cultural policy. After liberation, in 1964 Korea promulgated the Cultural Properties Preservation Law (CPPL) and has implemented this for various political-cultural motives. Accordingly, various issues regarding the CPPL have arisen in the field of Korean and Asian studies and ethnomusicology. These issues range from the CPPL's background to how it is currently applied to the local scene, and how top-down and bottom-up approaches conflict and compromise.Footnote ¹

Paying attention to Korea's postcolonial entanglement, Broken Voices aims to illuminate Japanese influence on the sphere of the CPPL, by looking at three Korean folk songs designated as national intangible properties. This book implies that, provided that there is a need to preserve arts, the CPPL needs to embrace change realistically, not to seek “authenticity” conceptually. This book consists of four chapters. The Introduction outlines the CPPL from a wide and critical view. Here, the author discusses the CPPL's various motives, including the economic background partly related to the tourism industry, domestic and international political factors, and the policy makers’ previous interest in the “authenticity” of intangible properties. Then, he introduces his participatory observation which often involves cultural challenges given to himself as a foreign scholar during his fieldwork.

Chapter 1 explores how the CPPL was founded institutionally during the Japanese occupation period. In this chapter, Maliangkay discusses how Japan intervened in the area of Korean properties with imperialistic motives, for example, dealing with the issues of Japan's censorship or its policy of making Korea's folk traditions inferior to Japanese ones. Then, noting the similarities in the main concepts and classification systems between the CPPL and the Japanese system, the author elucidates how the Korean system has modelled itself on its Japanese equivalent, effectively with a comparative approach.

In the next chapter, the author lays a theoretical foundation for discussing three cases of Korean folk songs. This chapter first introduces various aspects of folk songs, from their origin to their meaning, and the influence of mass media, while encompassing Western cases properly. Then, it offers a complex history of Korean folk songs, in which the distinct processes of colonization, modernization, and urbanization have played a part. And this chapter provides the European and Japanese origins of the Korean term min'yo, meaning folk songs, and the characteristics of Korean folk songs in terms of music and words in an effective way.

In the next two chapters, Maliangkay deals with three folk traditions in detail, often with a comparative approach, to examine how since the period of the Japanese occupation, related arts have developed up to the present. Chapter 3 explores sŏnsori sant'aryŏng (Standing Mountain Songs) in terms of their meaning, vocal ranges, repertories, and singing styles. Then, the author discusses the main issues regarding this form of folk song, for example differences between old and official repertories. And he introduces the personal stories of two prominent performers, Chŏng Tŭngman (d. 1992) and Hwang Yongju. In addition, this chapter looks at various spheres of kyŏnggi min'yo (folk songs from the central region of Korea), and their repertories, then provides biographies of three renowned musicians, An Pichi'wi (d. 1997), Muk Kyewŏl (d. 2014), and Yi Ŭnju. More importantly, the author deals with the issue of why female performers currently dominate in this genre, mentioning the environmental factors pertaining during the Japanese occupation succinctly.

Chapter 4 deals with sŏdo sori (Folk songs from the Western Provinces, North Korea). In particular, he discusses the operetta Paebaengi kut in various aspects such as vocal, rhythmic cycles, and accompaniment, movement, the interaction between kyŏnggi min'yo and sŏdo sori, the educational system, and key figures and musical features. Also, he provides the personal stories of two prominent musicians, O Pongnyŏ (d. 2011) and Yi Ŭn'gwan (d. 2014), then explores costumes, the meaning of the operetta, the story, and the commonalities and differences between the operetta and p'ansori (folk narrative songs). Finally, this chapter deals with a gap in sŏdo sori’s contents and place between the government's designation and the reputation of local artists. By doing so, it suggests that there is a need for the CPPL to make room for change.

In his Conclusion, while raising various significant issues, Maliangkay stresses that the Korean preservation system must recognize realistic “changeability”, not purely seeking an alleged “authenticity” in the arts. Thereby, the author concludes that Korea's traditions are significant to policy makers and practitioners, for the political reasons of “tourism, nostalgia, and community pride” (p. 172).

Broken Voices makes invaluable contributions in many regards. First, his book elucidates the influences of Japan's institutions effectively. In Chapter 2, the author clarifies how the Japanese system affected the Korean one institutionally. Second, this research introduces various aspects of three Korean folk songs, ranging from its colonial and postcolonial histories to musical content and policy-related issues. These aspects have not elsewhere been discussed so comprehensively in the academic world outside Korea. More importantly, Maliangkay raises current issues occurring in the area of the CPPL. One of those issues concerns the CPPL's previous rule, under which the “original form” of arts needed to be kept. This rule was often contrary to the position of local artists naturally aspiring to change their arts.Footnote ² Paying attention to this aspect, Maliangkay reminds readers of the necessity for the CPPL to accommodate the potentiality of change. By doing so, he provides concrete discourse to overcome the limitations placed by the CPPL's previous principle.Footnote ³

In the meantime, Broken Voices leaves room for further discussion. First, in this book it is somewhat difficult to discover the ideological influence of Japan on the Korean preservation system. When discussing the impact of one country's policy on another, it is often vital to understand institutional aspects separately from ideological ones. This is because, although a certain country may be affected by another institutionally, how the particular institution is embraced ideologically still depends on those related to the institution. The case of the CPPL holds true as well. Namely, while the CPPL has utilized Japan's main scheme, in many cases it has operated within a Korean identity common to policy makers and local artists. From a different angle, this book attempts to reveal how Japanese imperialism affected the “authenticity” of Korean folk arts. Yet, his case studies do not display the artists’ ideological aspects clearly to any degree, for example, when discussing the relevance of central-style folk songs to the image of the Japanese geisha, and therefore one often finds it difficult to agree on whether this is pertinent. To serve the purpose of this book, it would have been better to devote more space to describing how a view of Japan has been reflected in the stance of those involved in the CPPL.

However, this aspect does not eclipse the significance of this book as a must-read. Broken Voices implicitly highlights the necessity for securing the space of change in the area overseen by the CPPL, based on a critical view, anthropological sensitivity, and essential primary and secondary sources. By doing so, this book offers readers a great opportunity to carefully consider not only the modern and contemporary history of the CPPL, but also the considerable challenges the CPPL has faced while seeking the authenticity of Korean folk traditions. Hence, Broken Voices is necessary to understand the face of modern and contemporary Korea through the study of the CPPL. This book is particularly recommended for understanding the sector of the CPPL from a position different to that of a nationalist view.