초록/요약

Status of Thesis and Dissertation Research in the Department of Korean Traditional Music at Ewha Womans University and its Prospects This paper examines the status of research for M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations in the Department of Korean Traditional Music at Ewha Womans University and its prospects. Established in 1974 within the College of Music, the Department of Korean Traditional Music began its M.A. degree program in 1978. The Department changed its name from Gugak-gwa (department of traditional music) to Hangukeumak-gwa (department of Korean music) in 1980, and its first Ph.D. degree program for majors in musical instruments or voice was established in 1988; most theses and dissertations were written by musicians rather than musicologists. This paper analyzes 378 theses and dissertations from 1976 to 2021. Research topics of early M.A. theses included old notation, analysis of individual pieces of court and literati music such as Yeongsanhoesang, Jongmyojeryeak, Yeomillak, Boheoja, the gagok classical song cycle, the twelve surviving gasa, and folk music such as gayageum sanjo, pansori, minyo folk songs, and gayageum byeongchang. Early analyses of individual contemporary compositions for traditional instruments have expanded to studies of composers, playing techniques for new compositions and playing techniques. From the 1990s, new topics including North Korean music, modern music history, recording techniques, traditional music-related policy, and others have appeared, paralleling changes in society. Major research methodologies are comparison, analysis of musical elements, and melodic analysis among various instruments in musical pieces. Since the first Ph.D. dissertation in 2002, a total of 48 dissertations have been published, the subjects and topics broader and expanded compared to M.A. theses. As the first M.A. and Ph.D. degree program offered by the Department of Korean Music at Ewha Womans University, numerous thesis and dissertation “firsts” in several major fields in instruments and voice were published; these were major achievements for the Department of Korean Traditional Music. However, to overcome the limitations of smaller numbers majoring in Korean musicology than instruments and voice majors, expansion of research topics and perspectives remains as imperative in contributing to the development of Korean musicology.