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A Study on the Adaptation Process of Romantic Realism Acting in Korea by Lee, Hae-rang: With Regard to the Transformation Process of His Concept of Inner Truth

노승희 1

1동국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how Lee, Hae-rang has developed realism acting from 1937 to 1962, a period when Lee used to work as an actor. It particularly focuses on how he built up the acting style of Korean realism by connecting the concept of "inner truth," which he greatly valued from his early acting career, with Stanislavsky system at a later period. Lee concentrated on the "inner truth" as a strategy to criticize the vulgarism of Shimpa theater, as he disapproved of any theater's bias towards any specific ideology or commercial entertainment. After Korea's liberation, he combined the "inner truth" with the "innocence of the theater," as he became repulsed by the demagogic acting style of the leftist theater. Due to his view that valued the inner truth of actors, he started to cooperate with the American Military Government in Korea around the Korean War period and gradually established himself as the representative actor in the rightist wing. Lee devoted himself so much to pursue an acting style for exchanging sentiments with the audience that he only emphasized aesthetic stage movements and fluid dramatic atmosphere. As a result, he failed to approach a cardinal point of realism acting, which is to act the inner psyche out as specific behaviors. Accordingly, the realistic acting style Lee pursued evolved into a style different from that of Western realism, following the romantic stage conventions that appeal the audience for sentiments and ambience. Nevertheless, due to Lee's status as a reigning actor in South Korea, his acting style was perceived as the norm in the field and became a cause for the Korean theater of realism to partially present romantic acting style.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.