ABSTRACT

This study examines how and why traditional dance in Korea is conceptualized in a way that diverges from the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Convention of UNESCO. Using literature review and discourse analysis, it analyzes Korean cultural heritage laws and policy documents while critically engaging with theoretical shifts in folklore studies, anthropology, and performance studies that informed the ICH framework. The findings show that the Korean system conceptualizes traditional dance as a formalized performing art of professional practitioners, grounded in a product-oriented paradigm emphasizing historic value, artistry, and superiority. In contrast, the ICH Convention foregrounds a process-oriented paradigm, understanding heritage as community-based practice, transmission, and performance. This divergence produces a structural gap between form-centered and process-centered perspectives of the same dance practices. This study conceptualizes this difference as a tension between “preservation-oriented” and “process-oriented” paradigms, and proposes the necessity of reformulating the dual ontology of the intangibility and tangibility of dance cultural heritage.

This study aims to establish the category of Korean traditional dance, in which Korean aesthetic consciousness and spiritual culture are embedded. The purpose is to explore the cultural-historical and policy implications of its inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. By analyzing historical literature and current state of domestic transmission, the study approaches the subject from perspective of ‘typical form [jeonhyeong]’ the intersection of tradition and modern transmission. The results confirm that dance forms redefined as stage arts in the modern era constitute the foundation of contemporary Korean traditional dance Furthermore, UNESCO inscription facilitates the globalization of the identity of Korean arts and shifts the policy paradigm from ‘preservation’ to sustainable ‘transmission and promotion.’ This study is significant in proposing a cultural-historical category for Korean traditional dance and presenting policy recommendations for UNESCO inscription. It serves as a scholarly and policy foundation encompassing both the preservation of archetypal forms and modern re-creation.