Anthropological commentary on The Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman

Anthropology

Shamanism is a practice that is pervasive throughout many cultures. The Songs of Salanda and Other Stories of Sulu by H. Arlo Nimmo explored shamanism amongst the Bajau people of the Philippines. Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman: Of Tales and the Telling of Tales is a novel created by Laurel Kendall which explores shamanism in Korea. The purpose of this discussion is to provide anthropological commentary on Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman while also comparing and contrasting the book to The Songs of Salanda and Other Stories of Sulu. Let us begin the discussion with some background information on the book by Laurel Kendall.

Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman

Like Nimmo, Kendall is also an anthropologist. Kendall worked with Korean shamans throughout the 1970's and the book came about as a result of those experiences. Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman focuses on female Shamans, more specifically the book focuses on the life and times of a shaman who is referred to as Yongsu's Mother. Unlike Nimmo's work, Kendall's book seems to dwell more concretely on the role of women on Korean society. The book is clear in its discussion concerning the challenges that Yonsu's mother faces simply because of her gender.

A complex picture of Yongsu's Mother emerges. It shows a woman who undergoes many hardships because of her sex, but certainly does not cower in blind submission to male dominance… Yongsu's Mother's stories dwell at length on the woes of marriage, but these are the result of much more than just conflict between man and wife. Her (female) inlaws, children and stepchildren all help the misery along (Walraven 1991, 258).

The fact that she is a shaman makes her gender even more problematic. Throughout the book her identity as a Shaman and her traditional role as a wife seem to be intertwined to the point where they are almost indistinguishable from one another. Yongsu's mother also deals a great deal with the spirits of dead relatives including her husband and sister. These spirits manifests during rituals and at other times.

The focus on female shamans is important similarity that the two books possess. In the case of Korean Shamans and the place of Shamanism in Korean culture Kendal later wrote in a journal article that shamanism is still very much an active part of Korean culture. She explains that the use of shamans is particularly important in the realm of business and financial investment. Kendall explains that

"The shamans I know often remark upon their clients' preoccupations with wealth and advancement. Some shamans are inclined to boast of the financial rewards their clients have gained through ritual observances. Others are more cynical. One young shaman spoke with great heat and humor about profit-driven clients who will invest in repeated shamanic rituals, or kut, for good fortune, even within the space of a single year, and clients who will promptly sever their relationship with a shaman if the ceremony they have sponsored does not bear fruit in immediate fmancial gain. The shaman Kim Pongsun offers the acerbic view that the rituals for good fortune, chesu kut, are very popular because "if this house has so much money, then that house will sponsor a kut to get yet more money (Kendall 1996, ."

Kendall further explains that these rituals to acquire fortune have always existed but the frequency at which they now take place is uncommon. The increase in such rituals is due to differences in the economic stability of Korea. Kendall explains that people have more money to spend on such rituals and there is a great deal at stake. These rituals are expensive and as such, people in past generations would only utilize such rituals when it was absolutely necessary. In most cases the rituals that were done were related to healing illness, they were not based on material gain. This indeed speaks to the changes that have occurred in this particular society as it pertains to the manner in which shamans are utilized.

The fact that the people of Korea believe the shamans to be essential for their success is consistent with the beliefs of the Bajau people. In both cases the shamans are believed to be individuals that hold power and can assist and dictating the fate of the people. In the case of the Bajau there seems to be a greater emphasis placed on the power of evil spirits and their ability to derail the ability of the people to excel. On the other hand, shamanism in Korea seems to be towards bringing good as opposed to fighting off evil. In Korea shamanism seems to focus on positive energy and the shamans allow this energy to flow amongst the people. On the other hand the purpose of the shamans seems to be keeping evil energy away and as such the shamans serve as the middlemen and negotiate peace forcing the evil spirits away.

Arguably, in modern times, capitalism can be seen as an evil spirit similar to what the Bajau refer to as saiton, Capitalism has changed, in some ways, the value system fof modern day Koreans and sas such there is greater emphasis placed on materialism than human life or family connections. Many Korean Shamans recognize this change in the morals of the society in which they live. However, there are also Korean Shamans who boast that the rituals that they perform look to prosperity or good luck. In this way many of the shamans have been overcome by the evil spirit of capitalism and don't know it or they don't care.

This contrast between the two areas of the world and the manner in which shamanism is practiced is important to note because it speaks to the role of shamanism in these countries in addition to the overall spiritual belief system. Whereas the Bjau seem a bit obsessed with avoiding catastrophe, the Korean people appear to be obsessed with having good luck and prospering. In both instances the shamans act as middle men to unlock these obsessions.