Reciprocity, Status and the Korean Shamanistic Ritual

Hyun-key Kim Hogarth

Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, 1995.  University of Kent at Canterbury.

Abstract:

Shamanistic practices have more or less disappeared in many societies,
rejected and scorned by 'rationalized' people.  However, in Korea, a
modern nation-state, emerging as one of the world's greatest trading
nations, shamanistic rituals, called <kut>, show no signs of receding into
oblivion.  This thesis is an attempt to unravel the mystery of its
persistence in rapidly industrializing Korea.

Korean shamanism, called <musok>, reflects the centuries of Korean
culture, society and its ethos.  <Kut> is based on the principle
underpinning all social interactions in Korean society, i.e.
reciprocity.

The participants in <kut> are back in the Eliadean primordial paradisiac
age, when gods and humans freely communicated with one another.
Analysis of the three groups of the participants in <kut> reveals the
common denominator among them.  The shamans (<mudang>), almost 80% of
whom are women, are without exception unfortunate wretched people.  Most
sponsors are troubled or anxious people, since people sponsor <kut> in
times of personal and familial misfortunes, or when faced with an
uncertain future.  The spirits, which can be divided into gods,
ancestors and ghosts, are highly idiosyncratic in that many of them are
the spirits of those who lived turbulent lives and/or met tragic ends.
Gods include the spirits of the historical personages and culture
heroes, who suffered ill fortunes and/or untimely deaths.  The role of
'ancestors' in <kut> is so important that Korean shamanism is sometimes
identified with ancestor worship.  However, 'ancestors' featuring in
<kut> include the spirits of kinsmen (not necessarily ascendants), who
have not achieved proper ancestorhood for various reasons.  Ghosts are
the malevolent spirits, and those of non-kin many of whom died 'bad
deaths'.  Thus <kut> is a festive gathering of mostly troubled beings
(both supernatural and human), who exchange gifts of consolation with
one another.  Through venting and sharing their grief and grievances,
all of them experience catharsis, thus achieving 'happiness', which is
the ultimate objective of <kut>, as its etymology suggests.

A gift reflects the status of the recipient, as well as that of the
donor.  In Korean society with a long history of social stratification,
status plays an important role in social interactions.  Thus the
superior status of the spirits as immortals is recognized by mortals,
which is reflected in the sumptuous costly ritual offerings, hence the
exorbitant fees for a <kut>.  However, the status in <kut> is highly
ambiguous, <mudang>, who traditionally belong to the lowest of the low
social class, taking on the highest status of lofty gods.  This concept
of ambiguous status is well suited to modern Korean society with a
highly mobile class system.

An implicit faith in the Maussian obligation to reciprocate, however, is
the essence of Korean shamanism.  When faced with inexplicable
disasters, beyond modern science and technology, sponsoring <kut> is a
positive move by the sufferer to alleviate the pain and despair.  Their
belief that the spirits will reciprocate with blessings in return for
their gifts gives them confidence and hope, which helps them get over
difficult times.  The modern Korean people, therefore, will continue to
sponsor <kut> not only for 'the joy of public giving', but also for the
solace that their faith in the spirits' obligation to reciprocate brings
them.