Photo: Il-soo Hyun
My name is Jan Creutzenberg and I’m interested in Korean culture, theatre and music in particular, which are the general themes I write about in this blog.
I hold a PhD in theatre studies (Freie Universität Berlin) and currently work as an assistant professor at the Department of German Language of Ewha Womans University in Seoul. My research focuses on contemporary theatre in Korea, specifically on creative uses of traditional music and performing arts, but also on cultural transfers through theatre, translation, and adaptation. I have published and presented on Shakespeare and Brecht in Korea, cultural heritage and performing arts, as well as the history of one of Korea’s oldest Western style theatres – the Seoul Drama Center which opened in 1962 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation – and its founder Yu Chi-jin (find out more on Twitter under #YuRockDrama). Other current interests include traditional Korean music in Europe (#europansori) and German-language drama productions at Korean universities (#collegedrama)
I first got interested in Korea’s rich theatre scene after seeing guest performances in Berlin in Paris. Having graduated in theatre (Freie Universität), with cultural studies and philosophy as minors (Humboldt Universität), I moved to Korea in 2010 to conduct doctoral research on pansori, a Korean singing/storytelling tradition (about which you can find more on this blog…). Throughout my research, I worked in various places, including Seoul Foreign Language High School(서울외국어고등학교, 2013–15), Korea University: Sejong Campus(고려대학교 세종캠퍼스, 2015), and Sungshin University (성신여자대학교, 2014–18). also worked full-time as a project assistant at Goethe-Institut Korea from 2011 until 2013 and continue to coordinate the “Asian Composers Showcase”, a joint project of Goethe-Institut and Tongyeong International Music Festival.
Besides research and teaching, I translate Korean articles and literary texts into German. Since 2019, I teach a course at the Literature Translation Institute Korea (LTI, 한국문학번역원). I have also written on Korean culture, theatre, and art for various print and online outlets. For more information, please see the respective sections of this blog in the menu bar above. In addition, you can find out more about my academic activities (including some downloadable papers at Academia.edu.
Since moving permanently to Korea in April 2010, I use this blog to record thoughts on theatre, music, art, literature and other research that relates to Korea, as well as my impressions on the various performances I witness (t)here, in the theatre and beyond.
If you would like to get in touch, please leave a comment here or send a private message via Academia.edu. I will get back to you.
Seoul Stages 