Rock in China. Thesis. Korchuganova - Дипломная работа

(1986) Appendix E. Photo materials Introduction The topic of the master’s thesis is “The American and European Influence on Chinese Rock Music and its Sociopolitical Aspects in the Middle 80s’”. This topic was chosen because the author found it’s interesting as well as important to trace the measure of the American and European influence on Chinese rock and was it important brunch of art in Chinese society in the middle 1980s’ or not. Further in the text the term “Western” is used as it is used in literature but at the same time we should remember that geographical division on “The West” and “The East” is not relevant for China that has America on the East. The rationale of the research comes from the statement that music has important place in society and Chinese society is not exclusion. It’s necessary to understand how it can influence on people’s minds and the example of rock in the second half of the 1980s’ in China is a good example. It was written a lot about the nature of Yaogun, its relationship with government but the extent of influence is under research in the first time. The result of the study will show the extent of the recipiency of Chinese culture towards Western influences in the result of changes in the society in the 1980s’. Hence, the first aspect of the research is historico-cultural. The question of openness of one culture to another always has actuality. With the changes of economy society changed too and student activism of second half of the 1980s’ in China proves this idea. The second aspect is socio-political and the author describes the relations between Chinese government and new phenomena in youth culture and tries to find any correlations between Democratic Movement and emergence of Yaogun in the second half of the 1980s’. Rock music was one of the symbols of protest in North America and Europe in the 1960s’ and the question is did Yaogun have the same significance in Chinese society in the 1980s’ or not? The object of the research is changed Chinese society in the 1980s’ and its cultural and sociopolitical spheres. The subject of the study is Yaogun, its relationship with government and ties with Democratic Movement. The hypothesis of the study is that it was a certain extent of American and European influence on Chinese rock, which developed at independent music genre. As for sociopolitical aspect, the author assumes that the spread of Western ideas influenced on Chinese society in the second half of the 1980s’ and Yaogun had the same importance for Chinese society as rock had in North America and Europe of the 1960s’. To prove or disprove the assumptions of this hypothesis, the research has following goal: to learn out, first how much Chinese rock, Yaogun, was inspired by foreign music, and second, did it have the same weight in sociopolitical sphere in second half 1980s’ as rock in America and Europe in the 1960s’? To reach this goal, the research has following tasks: 1) To look at the historical and sociopolitical circumstances of emergence of Yaougun; 2) To know what was the reaction of the government to the spread of Western culture and Chinese rock-n-roll; 3) To learn out how much Chinese rock musician were inspired by American and European precursors on the example of such heavy metal bands Tang Dynasty and Black Panther and Cui Jian as well as sociopolitical fulfillment of their songs. The chronological boarders of the research are the 1980s’ years of the 20th century. The most important place in the research has the middle of the 1980s’ and second half of the decade, which is obvious from the topic, and events aftermath, till the year of 1993. To describe the process of changes in Chinese society, the author starts from the end the 1970s’ - beginning 1980s’ and in order to show the picture deeper, the author makes reviews from the ancient times in the first chapter. The geographical boarder of the research is Peoples’ Republic of China, and more specifically, the city of Beijing where Chinese rock music emerged. This research is an interdisciplinary one. It has its place between culturology, musicology, history and international relations studies. The theoretical framework of the research. The author is going to explain the whole situation on the basis of the theory of postmodernism. Music of postmodernism can be characterized as a mix of different genres and also by wide-spread usage of new technologies. Postmodern music is not only a tool for self-expression as it was before; it is a part of the industry of entertainment and consumption of the products of the culture. At the same time, it is ironical because irony is one of the main features of postmodernism. Postmodernity doesn’t distinguish “high” and “law” cultures. Jonathan Kramer, one of the main theorists of postmodern music, enumerates “16 characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provid