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Broken Voices is the first English-language book on Korea's rich folksong heritage, and the first major study of the effects of Japanese colonialism on the intangible heritage of its former colony. Folksongs and other music traditions continue to be prominent in South Korea, which today is better known for its technological prowess and the Korean Wave of popular entertainment. In 2009, many Koreans reacted with dismay when China officially recognized the folksong Arirang, commonly regarded as the national folksong in North and South Korea, as part of its national intangible cultural heritage. They were vindicated when versions from both sides of the DMZ were included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity a few years later. At least on a national level, folksongs thus carry significant political importance. But what are these Korean folksongs about, and who has passed them on over the years, and how? Broken Voices describes how the major repertoires were transmitted and performed in and around Seoul. It sheds light on the training and performance of professional entertainment groups and singers, including kisaeng, the entertainment girls often described as Korean geisha. Personal stories of noted singers describe how the colonial period, the media, the Korean War, and personal networks have affected work opportunities and the standardization of genres. As the object of resentment (and competition) and a source of creative inspiration, the image of Japan has long affected the way in which Koreans interpret their own culture. Roald Maliangkay describes how an elaborate system of heritage management was first established in modern Korea and for what purposes. His analysis uncovers that folksong traditions have changed significantly since their official designation; one major change being gender representation and its effect on sound and performance. Ultimately, Broken Voices raises an important issue of cultural preservation—traditions that fail to attract practitioners and ...

Broken Voices' is the first English-language book on Korea's rich folksong heritage, and the first major study of the effects of Japanese colonialism on the intangible heritage of its former colony. In 2009, many Koreans reacted with dismay when China officially recognized the folksong 'Arirang', commonly regarded as the national folksong in North and South Korea, as part of its national intangible cultural heritage. They were vindicated when versions from both sides of the DMZ were included in UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity a few years later. At least on a national level, folksongs thus carry significant political importance. Maliangkay describes how an elaborate system of heritage management was first established in modern Korea and raises an important issue of cultural preservation—traditions that fail to attract practitioners and audiences are unsustainable, so compromises may be unwelcome but imperative.

Because mainstream cinema is largely driven by major industries as opposed to individuals, the experience of film has often been tied to Marxist notions of production and hegemony. During the Korean silent film era, a time of rapid modernization, social hierarchies were arguably much more complex than they are today, due in part to rapid industrialization, the growing presence of the Japanese colonizers, and the traditional class distinctions Koreans continued to uphold. As part of an extensive and stringent cultural policy, the Japanese government-general controlled the selection of movies, their content, and the conditions under which they were shown; and yet the majority of the movies showed that Europe and the US comprised modern, "high" cultures worthy of emulation. With reference to the applicability of Gramsci's concept of cultural hegemony in the context of the Korean silent film era, it is important, therefore, to consider the various notions of hierarchy and cultural supremacy. Although this study considers the applicability of Gramsci's concept in this particular context, its primary aim-and as such another step towards a better understanding of the positions of power in Korea under colonial rule-is to understand how the Korean working-class experience of cinema differed from that of other classes.

Researchers in Korean studies looking into the popular entertainment industries during the colonial period have historically focused on cultural nationalism or economic prowess. Studies of music from this period that are not primarily concerned with aspects of resistance or censorship have come out only in the last few years, and so it is only recently that the popularity of the many new forms of entertainment among Koreans at the time has come to be recognized. In this article I describe the interaction of Koreans and Japanese in these industries from the time of their inception around the turn of the nineteenth century, and relate how politics on the one hand, and the influence of technology on the other, changed both the sound and concept of recorded Korean music until the late 1930s. In doing so, I focus on recordings of traditional music and refute the idea that the Japanese tried to indiscriminately manipulate them from the outset.

Because mainstream cinema is largely driven by major industries as opposed to individuals, the experience of film has often been tied to Marxist notions of production and hegemony. During the Korean silent film era, a time of rapid modernization, social hierarchies were arguably much more complex than they are today, due in part to rapid industrialization, the growing presence of the Japanese colonizers, and the traditional class distinctions Koreans continued to uphold. As part of an extensive and stringent cultural policy, the Japanese government-general controlled the selection of movies, their content, and the conditions under which they were shown; and yet the majority of the movies showed that Europe and the US comprised modern, "high" cultures worthy of emulation. With reference to the applicability of Gramsci's concept of cultural hegemony in the context of the Korean silent film era, it is important, therefore, to consider the various notions of hierarchy and cultural supremacy. Although this study considers the applicability of Gramsci's concept in this particular context, its primary aim-and as such another step towards a better understanding of the positions of power in Korea under colonial rule-is to understand how the Korean working-class experience of cinema differed from that of other classes.

Researchers in Korean studies looking into the popular entertainment industries during the colonial period have historically focused on cultural nationalism or economic prowess. Studies of music from this period that are not primarily concerned with aspects of resistance or censorship have come out only in the last few years, and so it is only recently that the popularity of the many new forms of entertainment among Koreans at the time has come to be recognized. In this article I describe the interaction of Koreans and Japanese in these industries from the time of their inception around the turn of the nineteenth century, and relate how politics on the one hand, and the influence of technology on the other, changed both the sound and concept of recorded Korean music until the late 1930s. In doing so, I focus on recordings of traditional music and refute the idea that the Japanese tried to indiscriminately manipulate them from the outset.

Maliangkay reviews CONTEMPORARY DIRECTIONS: Korean Folk Music Engaging the Twentieth Century and Beyond edited by Nathan Hesselink.

At the start of the twenty-first century challenges to the global hegemony of U.S. culture are more apparent than ever. Two of the contenders vying for the hearts, minds, bandwidths, and pocketbooks of the world's consumers of culture (principally, popular culture) are India and South Korea. "Bollywood" and "Hallyu" are increasingly competing with "Hollywood"-either replacing it or filling a void in places where it never held sway. This critical multidisciplinary anthology places the mediascapes of India (the site of Bollywood), South Korea (fountainhead of Hallyu, aka the Korean Wave), and the United States (the site of Hollywood) in comparative dialogue to explore the transnational flows of technology, capital, and labor. It asks what sorts of political and economic shifts have occurred to make India and South Korea important alternative nodes of techno-cultural production, consumption, and contestation. By adopting comparative perspectives and mobile methodologies and linking popular culture to the industries that produce it as well as the industries it supports, Pop Empires connects films, music, television serials, stardom, and fandom to nation-building, diasporic identity formation, and transnational capital and labor. Additionally, via the juxtaposition of Bollywood and Hallyu, as not only synecdoches of national affiliation but also discursive case studies, the contributors examine how popular culture intersects with race, gender, and empire in relation to the global movement of peoples, goods, and ideas