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A Study on the Adaptation of the Play Chulgabang Chujeokjakjeon(Tracking down the Steel Container) (2019)

  • The Journal of Korean drama and theatre
  • 2020, (68), pp.13-58
  • DOI : 10.17938/tjkdat.2020..68.13
  • Publisher : The Learned Society Of Korean Drama And Theatre
  • Research Area : Arts and Kinesiology > Other Arts and Kinesiology
  • Received : May 10, 2020
  • Accepted : June 6, 2020
  • Published : June 29, 2020

Baek Doosan 1

1서울시립대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study examined three different texts concerning the play Chulgabang Chujeokjakjeon(Tracking down the Steel Container)(2019) – the eponymous original novel (2001), the play adapted from the novel (May 2019), and the play script (April 2019) – with the aim to analyze the adaptation process, as well as the difference in the dimensions and interpretation between the three texts. For the analysis, this study referred to the approaches from adaptation studies, which recognizes the process of adaptation and appropriation as a conversational structure (intertextuality) between texts. Recontextualization took place during the novel-to-play adaptation process, as the original novel was written in 2000 and the play in 2019. This paper analyzed such changes with a focus on the playwright's tendency to appropriate the original work, specifically the playwright's critical interpretation, revisions, and rewriting of the original work. In Chapter 2, this paper examined the strategies and significance of rewriting the passages on runaway teenagers, focusing on the different interpretations brought by changing "Dalsik," one of the protagonists in the original novel, to "Chulgu," and by removing the prehistory of the character Jeonghoon. In Chapter 3, this paper analyzed the significance of Suseo as a space of multiple disparities, which was newly emphasized through the rewriting of the narrative and the characters, including Dayeon, Huichan, Yoonwoo, and Minji, in the play. Suseo, in this work, signifies the periphery on the outskirts of Gangnam. But at the same time, Suseo is a space of imagery that represents the internalization of many disparities shared by the middle class after the IMF Crisis in Korea. In Chapter 4, this study built upon the previous chapters' analysis to focus on the interpretations of the protagonist, Bong Sunja, whose aspects differ in each text in terms of intertextuality. The narrative of Bong Sunja, which was focalized through the adaptation, is especially poignant as it provides an introspective glimpse into the inner thoughts of the 86 generation.

Citation status

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