Management Strategies of Tragic Situations in Pansori Literature

Pansori literature depicts various tragic situations encountered by an ordinary protagonist and their emotional reactions to it, strongly evoking empathy from ordinary people who read it. This study examines the characteristics of tragic situations in Pansori literature and discusses several discourse strategies used to manage them. The tragic situation in Pansori literature always frustrates the ordinary protagonist, and has irrational and contradictory characteristics. Furthermore, their immense emotional reaction to it intensifies the tragedy. However, Pansori literature does not leave such an emotional state unattended and includes internal discourse strategies to manage it, which is deeply related to the emotional management method of the readers. The “humorous relaxation strategy,” “moral comfort strategy,” and “precognitive alternative strategy” discussed in this paper all correspond to a kind of internal defense strategy that makes the situation less sad and painful by turning one’s eyes elsewhere in tragic situations. However, this is differentiated from simply avoiding the problem. When a good individual cannot change their life immediately on their own, it allows them to imagine an optimistic future instead of being overwhelmed by negative emotions. Management strategies of tragic situations in Pansori literature are thus significant as comfort and encouragement strategies for people and for providing ideas for the ways we live and create stories today.