Intertextuality of Modern Korean Traditional Costumes Represented in “The Tiger is Coming”

Abstract

Intertextuality represents the potential inherent in an object by reproducing and expanding the meaning innated in it. This study adopted a philosophic view to analytically examine modernization of Korea traditional costume. Fashion, as a communication medium, transfers its meaning according to different circumstances. Korean traditional clothing also has changed its appearances and has augmented its meanings by deconstructing and combining with other art forms as time passes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the intertextuality reflected in modernization of traditional clothing shown in commercial clips of the Korea Tourism Organization; The tiger is coming. The images were collected through the internet and analyzed based on intertextuality of music and dance. The intertextuality of music and dance was identified by analyzing coordination methods and they were analyzed through intertextuality of Time Place Occasion (TPO) and gender. As a result, it shows intertextuality of TPO with music and dance represented in the images is a harmonization of the past and present, west and east, and the public and private. The intertextuality of gender in music and dance is associated with the androgynous style which extracts a popular expression from public contexts. The mix-and-match methods by which the dance team blends the modern with the traditional of Korean costume were successful and such outcomes are most clearly evidenced in the promotional video of Korea Tourism Organization. This study explores the particular importance of intertextuality within modernization of Korea traditional clothes and attention is drawn to ways in which the insight from future studies can be used for creative formation of traditional clothes.