중국과 시베리아의 샤먼 의례들을 배경으로 하여 한국 무속의 특징을 규명한다. 필자는 문학적 방법론을 차용하여, 의례들이 지닌 고유한 구성방식 및 그들이 체현하고 있는 다면적 세계들에 대해 분석한다. 또한 의례들에서 삶에 대한 체험과 믿음의 세계들을 불러일으키기 위해 사용되는 극적인 수단들에 대해 고찰한다.

Foreword: Exploring Korean Shaman Rituals

Part One: Analytical Approaches to Shamanic Rituals

Chapter One: A Korean Mudang's Gifts for her People
Gift of the Mudang's Life
Family Healing and Wholeness
Harmony with Village Gods
Death's Peace, Beauty, and Fulfillment

Chapter Two: Dramatic Make-up and Gut Worlds
Spirit Drama
Gut Wonder
Dramatic Movement
Spatial Poetry and Poetic Tension
Comic Play and Woe
Dramatic Unity

Chapter Three: Shamanic Worlds of Korea and Northeast China
Manchu Worlds and Gut Worlds
Han Banner Spectacle and Dramatic Gut Interaction
The Sacred Ecology of an Oroqen Rite

Chapter Four: Shamanic Worlds of Korea and Southwest China
Bringing Gut Worlds to Life
Qiang and Korean Rites
A Sacrificial Naxi Rite
A Stillborn Yi Family Rite
Yi and Korean Family Rites
A Symbolic Han Rite

Chapter Five: A Jeju Family Rite
Day One: Setting the Mythic Stage and Insuring Children's Well-being
Day Two: Soul Retrieval and Cleansing the Path for the Dead
Day Three: Renewed Healing and Dispelling Evil

Part Two: Analytical Perspectives on Shamanic Rituals

Chapter Six: The Healing Dynamics of Korean, Chinese, and Siberian Rites
The Healing Agents of Jeju and Khakassian Rites
Yi Healing; Experiential and Ritualistic
Psycho-dramatic Healing in Seoul Gut

Chapter Seven: Korean, Naxi, and Yi Worlds of Evil
Gut Pollution and Han
Pestilence in Naxi Spirit Winds
Infectious Spirit Curses in Yi Society

Chapter Eight: The Gut Experience and the ChristianExperience
Word, Sign, and Theological Aesthetics in Village Gut
Word, Sign, and Theological Dramatics in Family Gut
The Drama of a Mudang's Call
Faces of Divine Presence
Ambiguities of Evil

Chapter Nine: Sacred Ecologies of Siberia and Korea
Tri-polar World of a Mongol Buryat Initiation Rite
The Sacred Presence of Lake Baikal
A Tuvan Rite at a Sacred Natural Site
Improvised Spirit World of a Khakassian Rite
Gut Ecology and the Rhythms of Family Life

Chapter Ten: Gut and Avant-garde Theater
Mythic Motifs in an Absurdist Play
Existential Similarities and Dissimilarities, Gut and Absurdist Plays
Symbolic Affinities, Death Gut and an Absurdist Play
Dramatic Affinities, Gut and Avant-garde Plays

Epilogue: Researching the Dramatic Power of Shamanic Rites

Comparative Analysis and Evaluation
Comparative Symbolism
Dramatic Analysis
Author's Previously Published Works Revised for this Volume
Bibliography of Works Cited
Index