This study analyzes the process through which poems were transformed into Minjung Gayo in Korean society during the 1970s and 1980s from the perspective of the formation and reconfiguration of emotional structures. The purpose of this research is to e...
This study analyzes the process through which poems were transformed into Minjung Gayo in Korean society during the 1970s and 1980s from the perspective of the formation and reconfiguration of emotional structures. The purpose of this research is to examine how the emotional organization inherent in poetic language was reconstituted into collective emotions through its interaction with musical forms and collective performance. To this end, poems that were received as Minjung Gayo are classified into two categories—realist poetry and traditional lyric poetry—and analyzed through the concepts of re-contextualization and pan-contextualization. The research methods include an analysis of the political, social, and cultural contexts of the period; close textual analysis of poetic works; comparative analysis between the original poems and the lyrics as presented in musical scores; and an examination of the emotional effects generated by musical elements. The analysis reveals that poems belonging to the realist tradition reorganized emotions such as sorrow and anger into direction-oriented collective energy through repeatable slogans and marching rhythms. In contrast, poems from the traditional lyric tradition maintained emotional gaps and silence, thereby forming a shareable emotional space centered on introspection, helplessness, and grief, which enabled collective affective resonance. This study demonstrates that the transformation of poems into Minjung Gayo was not merely a change of genre, but a cultural event in which the internal structures inherent in poetic texts were reconfigured through their combination with musical forms and collective performance. In doing so, the study expands the dimensions of emotion and reception in both poetry studies and Minjung Gayo research.