Folk Song Still Today

Keith Howard’s, “Korean Folk Songs for the Contemporary World” poses interesting points about tradition passing down and most importantly as I see it connects to nationalism. Folk songs traditionally are thought of as being passed down by oral traditions and things of the past, not always connected to the future. However, I think that with specificity to the country of Korea, one that is still reshaping its structure of democracy and the nationalistic pride of the people, I can see why such a folk song as “Arirang” is still in check today with its many versions.
To begin, one passage is on page 151. Howard, talking about the song “Arirang”, says “The song tells with sorrow about the passing of time, about… the sad situation of the people, deprived of their homeland by the Japanese imperialists and expresses, although not clearly, protest against the Japanese imperialists’ occupation of Korea, in which the Japanese are referred to as the root of all misfortunes…”. He begins by noting the Han with the sorrow of the people, painting the picture of a changing people recovering and restructuring from the past. If we look at what Howard’s argument develops into he states that folk songs are of the people.
This is interesting because it is in remembering that it is by the people that it still appeals to the people, remembering the ancestors as they hold on to what they can of the past. The Korean people have gone through a lot, constantly questioning their nationalistic characteristics, in such a short period of time compared to other nations. So this is why I think folk songs would survive in such a state in a nation unlike America where we do not really appreciate folk songs unless we are talking about those Golden Oldies! Lastly, I think that folk songs especially resonate still today because of the continuing political conflicts that are revisited with Japan’s war time political activities of recent times and lost retributions, that stem from the same sort of aggression and Han.