User:Blue Little Boxes/sandbox

Protest Music and Social Protest/ Change in Contemporary China?
Protest music has been an important part of protest movements worldwide. Protest music can be overt songs of protest or subversive pieces of music than hide their message below the surface. There is a history of protest music in the rise of the Communist government, songs that have now formed part of the state's regime. Protest music has been seen in China, the popular singer Cui Jian, during the Tiananamen Square protests is perhaps the most famous example. But what role does protest music have in protest movements today in China? In such a highly censored society are singers hiding messages of protest in their songs? Or are they protesting at all? Does protest music in China play a similar role to the one it has played in other countries or do other art forms play more significant roles. If it does play a role what does that look like? If it doesn't why not?

[Currently very 1990s/ early 2000s heavy]
Baranovitch, N. (2003). China's New Voices. Berkeley: University of California Press.


 * Chapters on different art forms during 1978-1997 period. The final chapter (Popular Music and State Politics: Hegemony, Resistance, Symbiosis, and Unity) is likely to be the most useful in giving the immediate background to the contemporary period.

Chen, N. (2001). China Urban. Durham: Duke University Press.

Clark, P., Pang, L. and Tsai, T. (2016). Listening to China's Cultural Revolution. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.


 * While this book is mostly focused on the music of the Cultural Revolution the last chapters of the book discuss more contemporary music and the messages and ideologies you can find within them.

Friedman, J. (2013). The Routledge History of Social Protest in Popular Music. New York: Routledge.


 * Good general resource on the use of music in popular protest in an international context. The book looks to examples around the world and looks at how musical protest differs in across societies. There is a chapter dedicated to China (Ambushed From All Sides: Rock Music as a Force for Change in China) explores the particular Chinese context. The author concludes protest music is likely to look quite different in China and also argues that music is a less important art form for social change than the visual arts. This question is one that while it is unlikely I can find and answer to it right now, I would like to study further.

Garofalo, R. (1992). Rockin' the Boat. Boston, MA: South End Press.


 * Two relevant articles: Rock and Roll on the New Long March: Popular Music, Cultural Identity, and Political Opposition in the People's Republic of China & All For Freedom: The Rise of Patriotic/ Pro-Democratic Popular Music in Hong Kong in Response to the Chinese Student Movement.
 * This book is a little older but again, gives the context immediately prior to the contemporary era.

Hillman, Ben and Gray Tuttle. 2016. Ethnic Conflict and Protest in Tibet and Xinjiang: Unrest in Chinas West. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.


 * Potential source on different forms of protest in Tibet and Xinjiang. UCLA's copy missing so waiting for ILL to assess usefulness.

Jaivin, L. (2001). The Monkey and the Dragon. Melbourne: Text Publishing.


 * Biographical account of the author's friendship with the artist Hou Dejian and his complicated life and legacy in protest music.

Jones, A. (1992). Like a Knife. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University - East Asia Program. [Newer Edition Available Outside UCLA?]


 * One of the first studies of modern Chinese Popular Music in a Western language. Looks and ideology within music and has a case study of Cui Jian.

Lee, G. (1996). Troubadours, Trumpeters, Troubled Makers. Durham: Duke University Press.


 * Looks at Lyricism, Nationalism, Hybridity in China and Its Others. Slightly older look but useful background to current era.

Rojas, E. and Michie, L. (2013). Sounds of Resistance. Santa Barbara: Praeger.


 * A more modern look at Cui Jian in the chapter: Return of the vagabond : Cui Jian and China's democracy movement

Wasserstrom, J. and Perry, E. (1994). Popular Protest and Political Culture in Modern China. Boulder: Westview Press.