Jo Man-su's childhood
  Jo Man-su is known as a professor of the Dept. of French Language and Literature in CBNU to us. He works in Nam-san Arts Center as a dramaturge. The roles of dramaturge are making programs in the theater and creating the programs, like a curator in an art museum. He is famous in the art industry because he was appointed as a dramaturge in the Public Arts Center for the first time in Korea. “I had the disposition of a literature student from childhood. I was fascinated with literature before I entered into university. I liked to do small activities such as drawing pictures and scribbling on paper. My personality was quite active, so I went out to play a lot when I was young. I was different from other literature students.”
  After he entered the Dept. of French Language and Literature in Seoul National University, he officially followed the path of literature student. His campus life was quite enterprising unlike the common thought that he might live in his own little world. “Instead of being interested in France, in my own judgment, the Dept. of French Language and Literature was the best major to approach literature. Therefore, I chose it. Campus life was very fun. I often was Departmental Student Representative during my school days. When I was a freshman, junior students went on trips. I wanted to go on trips like them, so I persuaded sophomores to go on trips with every student in my department. At that moment, I was a very liberal person. My campus life was in continuous conflict with all kinds of people and the continuous formation of communities. Some of them were liberalists and others were student activists.”

The life as a dramaturge
  He has worked as a literary critic since 2000, which was when he came back from France. People who studied abroad introduced dramaturge to Korea in the mid-1990s. “Since I made a connection with the theatrical world, I started to work as a dramaturge. In my case, a theorist is someone who mixes their knowledge with plays.”
  When he studied in France, the prices of play tickets were too high, so he wanted to watch plays for free. Therefore, he worked as an overseas correspondent in a magazine called ‘Gaeksuk’. When he made the plays, he was affected by ‘Theatre du Soleil’(a  theater group) in the play ‘Tambours sur la Digue’(Drumbeat of a River Bank). 
  “The most difficult thing is to unite people. To make one work, lots of people, such as actors, directors and many staffs, participate. If a work is premiered, which was never performed before, everyone who participates in the play is on the same level. Actors, directors and staffs read scripts and make plays together on the same level. Personally, it’s hard for me to make people follow my concepts.”
  “Generally, a process is necessary in a play. At first, we suffer through debating, examining and reading. Then, when half of the processes are done, we put an idea, such as walking slowly and acting, into practice. Therefore, a play can be completed through these processes to find the best way to deliver a message to the audience. For example, rather than walking slowly to the right, I found that running to the left looked more sincere. After we tried them, we know which was better. Therefore, we should truly question about art as well as writing. When we deliver a message to someone, we can communicate by conversation or writing. In writing, unskilled writing is also better than skillful writing. Actually, literature is also similar to this, because literature is not about correcting an answer but finding a process.”

His values in life
  We wondered if 24 hours are enough to do all his jobs as a professor, theater critic, and dramaturge.
  “I’m not good at managing my schedule. My tips to save time are reducing private appointments and sleep time. Though I try to save my time, I am often scolded by my coworkers because I’m late for my deadlines and appointments. I want you to know that it is not true that being good at time management makes people do lots of things. They just want to do what they want no matter how short their time is. In my case, it’s all possible because the works are sufficiently connected, like a professor teaching students to writing activities.” 
  We asked him for advice for CBNU students who are confused about dreams and jobs.
  “In my generation, the children were educated more than their parents. There were not many graduated parents. In that time, the university students were the highest intellectuals. However, in these days, people usually have a Bachelor of Arts. We don’t call undergraduates intellectuals, do we?
  We should ask ourselves about values. Knowledge can easily be accessible by learning; however, we cannot easily accumulate values. It needs many experiences. Therefore, do not hesitate. Experience the world to make your own values and follow them. In conclusion, you have to be confused about your dreams or jobs.”

 

By Lee Da-yeon
dy34@cbnu.ac.kr

By Oh Ah-ra
ar34@cbnu.ac.kr