‘매체연기’라는 의미에 대한 문제 제기: 모던시네마가 ‘연기’에 대해 던진 질문들을 중심으로

초록

This study examines the contemporary usage of the term “media acting” and argues that its conventional meaning diverges from the historical evolution of acting. Rather than emerging from a fundamental rethinking of the craft itself, the term is largely predicated on the superficial conditions of how performing bodies are displayed across various media platforms. This paper shifts the focus from mere terminology to a more profound inquiry: how the environment of the modern cinema has reshaped the concept and function of acting. Traditionally, acting has been understood as a performer’s physical embodiment of a role within a narrative framework. In the modern media landscape, however, acting is no longer confined to the screen or stage; its boundaries have become increasingly porous. The modern cinema, in particular, introduced a new condition: instead of presenting reconstructed fragments of reality, it situated performers directly within the spectator’s world of lived facts. Consequently, acting began to function not as an imitation of reality, but as a bodily action discovered within reality itself. This shift relocated acting from a specialized technique of the actor to the broader domain of universal human physical expression—a movement further amplified by television, which integrated narrative experiences into everyday spaces. Although the scope of this paper is limited, it contends that this conceptual transformation was already rooted in the era of the modern cinema. Revisiting this history allows for a critical re-evaluation of the long-standing assumption that acting belongs solely to the functional realm of narrative representation. Ultimately, this study proposes that acting serves as a vital means of understanding human bodily presence, consciousness, and lived reality beyond the constraints of traditional dramatic structures.

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