Abstract

A historical drama summons the past and projects the present. It is not a copy of historical events, but a creative outcome of the past. Creative representation of the past frequently works as a metaphor of the present. The main concern of the historical play lies in the present when the text is represented, not the text representing the past. The well-made television mini-series <Chuno>[推奴, Chasing Slave] shows well the heart of the historical drama with a high aesthetic accomplishment. <Chuno> is the story about slave chasers in 17th century Chosen. <Chuno> shows continuously dynamic tension because this historical drama is organized with chase/escape plot. Chasing takes a form of chain based on the complicated relationship of main characters. In <Chuno>, this chasing becomes a record of existential travel in that the chase of other's body is transformed into the pursuit of the self's desire. What is the most prominent attribute in <Chuno> is the project of anachronism which calls the past and projects the present. This anachronism project comes to be possible with elaborate placement of each drama formative composing the text. The close connection between the active chase and static discussion is the record of main character's culture and growth since it shows the process through which the inscribed mark on body is transformed into the spiritual awakening. Moreover, the ‘simultaneousness of the unsimultaneous’ between screen and sound, or between spoken language and written language is the synesthetic decorum in which the inharmoniousness between the sense of hearing and seeing produces very harmonious scene. With the intentional Time-Variation summoning the past, <Chuno> leads us to have a conversation with the present. Time-Variation in <Chuno>, the well designed anachronism, produces meaningful topics on both Us and our Now/Here lives.