Book Review: Eva Tsai, Tung-hung Ho and Miaoju Jian (eds), Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular Music by Yiu Fai Chow

homey81 PUBLICATION

Book Review: Eva Tsai, Tung-hung Ho and Miaoju Jian (eds), Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular Music

First Published August 5, 2020 Book Reviewhttps://doi.org/10.1177/2059436420947368

Yiu Fai Chow

Creative Commons Attribution, Non Commercial 4.0 License

Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular MusicEva Tsai, Tung-hung Ho & Miaoju Jian (eds), Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular Music. New York, NY; London, England: Routledge, 2020. xix + 260 pp, with a selected bibliography: ISBN 9780815360155 (hbk, £88); 9780815360179 (pbk, £26.39); 978351119146 (ebk, £26.39).

This anthology is a sumptuous and ambitious project. It is sumptuous because the contributors offer readers a unique occasion to understand Taiwanese popular music, along an expansive time line (from the late 1890s to 2019), across an unusual musical diversity (whether in terms of what we usually understand as genres, or pop defined linguistically or cultural-historically), and informed by a wide range of disciplines (media and communication studies, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, East Asian studies and ethnomusicology). It is ambitious because the editors are not content with a sumptuous collection, or, in their words, ‘the sum of Mandarin pop, Hokkien/Hoklo pop, Hakka pop, and indigenous pop’ (p. 1); they intervene and ‘highlight certain smaller, more interstitial narratives that put these dominant historical interpretations in perspectives’ (p. 5). In other words, Made in Taiwan is not preoccupied with defining what a certain kind of popular music is or should be; rather, it is intent on breaking open hardened pop histories in order to afford more academic contemplation and empirical curiosity, ultimately to release more energy and liveliness from popular music itself. We see the editors’ mission in the 15 chapters or studies that follow their poignantly formulated Introduction.

The main body of the book is divided into the following four sections: Trajectories, Identities, Issues, and Interactions. The three chapters under Trajectories zoom in on the formative years of Taiwanese popular music, the decades following the Second World War, albeit with different perspectives. Tung-hung Ho’s opening chapter examines the intricate connections between the rise of nativism and the emergence of Taiwanese pop, with a critical reflection on the pitfalls of nativism and a proposal of what he calls ‘alternative nativism’. Szu-wei Chen’s chapter recuperates the productive encounter of two professionals – the prolific composer Chou Lan-ping and the pioneering entrepreneur Liao Chien-yuan, to argue against the dominant view that Taiwan in the 1950s was only borrowing from neighbouring centres (Shanghai, Hong Kong) and never itself a site of original music production. The following chapter by Kuo-chao Huang foregrounds indigenous music, particularly in the form of ‘Mountain Songs’ and tracks its development in the 1960s and 1970s to underline its often neglected, or ignored, importance to the development of Taiwanese popular music as a whole. The second section, as its title Identities suggests, collects four chapters dedicated to exploring the relationship between identities and social and musical practices. The chapters by C.S. Stone Shih and Yu-yuan Huang concern Taiyu ballads. While the former is a case study of composer Hsu Shih and his significance, the latter focuses on Taiyu covers of Japanese songs and dissects processes of cultural hybridization. Turning from Japanese influence to Anglo-American pop-rock, Meng Tze Chu talks to aging lovers and music practitioners and weave a life-affirming inquiry from their collective memories of the rock scene and the Cold War period. Andrew Jones, in his chapter on Hakka folk rock, unfolds the complexity of ethnic, class and musical identities through the music of Labor Exchange Band.

The third section Issues covers three pop genres in Taiwan since the late 1990s. A vivid instance of how locatedness functions to produce knowledge on popular music, Chi-Chung Wang’s chapter studies the relationship between elite high school practices and the development of rock culture in Taiwan. Informed by feminist deconstruction, Eva Tsai maps Hsieh Jin-yen’s transformation from Taiyu singer to EDM diva, teasing out its subversive potentials. Continuing the gender problematic, Lin Hao-li considers the possibility of ‘alternative masculinity’ among a group of educated, middle-class male rappers in Taiwan. The final section Interactions brings readers to the latest development in Taiwanese popular music. The first chapter, by Yu-peng Lin and Hui-ju Tsai, enters the field of cultural policy, and examines government support to promote Taiwan’s indie music abroad. Turning to one of Taiwan’s most profitable musical exports, Jay Chou, Chen-yu Lin focuses on his China Wind songs and discusses the issue of Chineseness by way of Chinese audiences’ reception of Chou’s music. The final chapter, by Chen-Ching Cheng, ends the book proper, very appropriately, with ‘the biggest Mandarin pop star in history’ (p. 170) – Teresa Teng – and an analysis of her stardom in the nationalistic context.

I wrote ‘book proper’ earlier, as following these four sections are two more chapters. Miaoju Jian’s chapter, as Coda, explores further what is going on right now in Taiwan’s music scene; she presents three paths through which indie musicians may reach audience outside Taiwan: global Mandopop market, East Asian DIY networks, and translocal entrepreneurial promoters. The final chapter of the book, modestly presented as an afterword, is a conversation between the three editors and veteran practitioner Lim Giong. Perhaps, this last choice may serve as a trigger to offer some form of criticism – as a book review is obliged to – to this highly engaging, informative and political anthology. Namely, the bulk of the book remains dedicated to the past. As someone with vested interest – both personal and professional – in music, I long to read more about what is going on, what future we can envisage, how do streaming and other forms of technological developments impact on Taiwanese popular music, what are younger generations of fans ‘prosuming’? I am also not very sure what the section titles add; would it be better to organize the book somewhat mundanely according to themes or chronology? Finally, a very minor sigh: it would be helpful to add cited names and titles in Chinese, for those who may find it difficult to recognize them in ‘English’ renditions. All in all, Made in Taiwan is a must read for anyone interested in Taiwan, Taiwanese popular music and popular music at large. For the richness of musical genres, case studies and academic disciplines included in the anthology, it is relevant to scholars operating in a wide range of fields. It should also be a good textbook for courses on popular music, globalization and area studies. The selected bibliography on popular music in Taiwan is very useful.Yiu Fai Chow
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong

7th Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Conference3-6 December – Online

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Dear Participants

Hope this message finds you well


On behalf of Sunway University and the 7th IAPMS Local Arrangements Committee (LAC) we would like to express our concern as the coronavirus continues to control all matters of our lives.


Given that Malaysia is now experiencing a third wave, the 7th IAPMS conference will take place 3-6 December 2020 and will be fully online. All presentations will be delivered through asynchronous broadcasting of pre-recorded presentations followed by a live Q &A session. The conference will be done using Zoom meetings and will allow participants to ask questions during the live Q & A session.



In order to participate in the conference please register and make the payment online using the following link:

https://epayment.sunway.edu.my/suni

The fees are:

Students – RM100 (roughly 25USD)

Regular – RM200 (roughly 50USD)

(Please make sure to select the right event.)

All registered participants will receive a complimentary copy of the 7th IAPMS proceedings in either hard copy or e-book format. 

After we receive the payments, the Local Arrangements Committee will send the programme together with the Zoom links to all registered participants by November 15.  

Best regards and stay safe 


7th IAPMS Local Arrangements Committee

_________________________________

Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies 

http://interasiapop.org

https://www.facebook.com/interasiapopularmusicstudies

CfP extended: IASPm 2021

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Greetings!

The Local Organizing Committee is pleased to invite you to the 21st Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music to be held in Daegu, South Korea, for 5 days from July 6 to 10, 2021. Here are some latest updates on the conference.

1) Thanks to popular demands, we decided to extend deadline for abstract submission for one month until 31 August 2020. The submission can be made through the IASPM 2021 website (http://iaspm2021.org/index.php?gt=abs/abs01)

* Abstract Submission: until August 31, 2020 (Korea time GMT+8)

2) The IASPM 2021 registration fee has been set. We will deliver you with the registration guide when the payment system is completed.

3) We are delighted to introduce you Keynote Speakers for IASPM 2021:

– Britta Sweers (Director of the Center for Global Studies at the University of Bern, Switzerland)

– Shuhei Hosokawa (Professor Emeritus at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies)

– Chan E. Park (Professor, Ohio State University, United States)

– Jung-Sun Lee (Singer-songwriter, Guitarist, and former professor of Seoul Arts University, Korea)

4) IASPM 2021will proceed as announced in spite of the uncertainty caused by COVID-19

Despite the on-going worldwide crisis of COVID-19, the local organizing committee is working hard to make IASPM 2021 in Daegu happen. Depending on the situation in 2021, the conference could take the form of real, virtual, or hybrid. We are preparing for every possible scenario to ensure IASPM 2021 to be a successful conference. IASPM 2021 will be greatly benefitted from host city Daegu’s world-class capacity for COVID-19 control. In close cooperation with Daegu Metropolitan City, we will make sure a safe and sound conference experience for all participants. Thank you!

For further details, please visit IASPM 2021 website at http://iaspm2021.org/index.php.
Best,IASPM 2021 Local Organising Committee

[CfP] XXI Biennial IASPM Conference in Daegu, South Korea

sonicscape CALL FOR PAPERS
“Climates of Popular Music”, 21st Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music
Call for Presentations
The most pressing issue for humanity in the 21st century is global climate, and thus IASPM’s 21st Conference turns its attention towards this subject. Whereas our 20th anniversary conference considered where we have been, we now ask where we are now, what we are doing as a species, and what impact it has on our communities and our world. On a planet increasingly interconnected by a dizzying array of media channels, such a discussion has to be broadly framed. Our planet’s climate is impacted by numerous forms of human activity, including those that are individual, personal, local, communal, institutional, commercial, corporate, cultural, political, and international. This conference invites presentations that ask how popular music relates to our climate, where climate relates to any part of the totality of surrounding conditions and circumstances affecting growth or development. By “climate,” we intend to include a range of definitions, including ecological climate, political climates, socio-political climates, and contextual and individuated climates. We ask presenters to consider the impacts of activities related to popular music and its cultures on variously defined climates, and the impacts of changing or changed climates on different popular music and its contexts.
To address these issues, as well as any other questions and topics related to the past, present and future climates of popular music, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music invites proposals for the twenty-first IASPM biennial conference, to be held at Kyungpook National University in Daegu, South Korea, July 6-10, 2021. The general theme of conference is divided into five interrelated streams:
A) Environment
Popular music has long been associated with green agendas, ecological concerns, and environmental activism, and this stream takes a more literal interpretation of the conference title than others. It also implies a link to ecological approaches that explore affordances as well as impacts, including insights from fields such as eco-musicology and ethnomusicology.
B) Milieu
Political climates no doubt seem to be more complex than those of the past to each generation. They have a direct influence on the stability and sustainability of our cultures, and this relationship is often reflected in our popular music. Political storms, quakes and disasters flow from isolationism into global cooperation, between east and west and from south to north. This stream will address local, national, and international politics, as well as individuated socio-politics, as reflected through issues such as identity, gender, class, sexuality, and belief, and seen and heard through popular music.
C) Ambiance
When describing climates, we may use terms such as ambiance, atmosphere, mood, or tone, to conceptualize the often unconscious perceptions of space and place. Studies of space and place have emerged as a key interdisciplinary subject across numerous fields and have crossed into popular music studies through studies of geographies, locality, scenes and subcultures. This stream invites explorations of receptions and perceptions, of audiences and ethnographies, of set and settings of popular music.
D) World
Climate, however defined, is intimately associated with questions that require a global approach. Although ‘world music’ has slowly made peace with ethnomusicology and although both have made inroads into popular music studies, they have not yet reached a truly global understanding of popular music. Areas such as South East Asia, where this conference is to be hosted, are having an increasing impact upon popular music, yet they are significantly under-represented. This stream encourages contributions which widen and deepen our global/local understanding of popular music and its cultures, whether through a detailed study of a specific subculture or scene, or by exploring changes in global popular music climates.
E) Mediums
The modes and channels of mediation of music have evolved at a rapid rate over the last 120 years, moving through cycles of oral, written, recorded, digital, and virtual transmission, into a multi-valent universe where revivals of folk singing and vinyl clubs mix with digital music and streaming. This stream focuses on how mediums impact on popular music, and on the role of technology.
Academic Committee
Geoff Stahl (co-chair), Andrea Dankić (co-chair). Pil Ho Kim (co-chair)
Local Organizing Committee
Keewoong Lee (chair), Aekyung Park, Eunice Sung, Taeyoon Kim, Hyun Kyong Chang, Eujeong Zhang, Hyunjoon Shin, Hyunseok Kwon, Gyu Tag Lee, Hawsook Song, Wonseok Lee, Pil Ho Kim, Jun-Hue Lee, Jung-Yup Lee, Jungwon Kim, Yu Jung Lee, Youngdae Kim
* Individual roles not yet assigned
Abstracts
There will be four options: panels (of 3 or 4 presenters), individual papers, film/video presentations, or poster sessions.
Panels
Proposals for organized panels are encouraged (two-hour long sessions with four papers, or three papers and a discussant). Each session should leave at least 30 minutes for discussion or for comments by a discussant immediately following the presentations. The panel organizer should submit the panel abstract and all individual abstracts (200 words each) in one document, with a full list of participant names and email addresses. Where an independently submitted abstract appears to fit a panel, the Academic Committee may suggest the addition of a panelist.
Papers
We invite abstracts of no longer than 200 words, including five keywords for programming purposes and an optional list of references (max 10). Individual paper presentations are 20 minutes long to be followed by 10 minutes of discussion.
Film/video session
Recently completed films introduced by their author and discussed by conference participants may be proposed. Submit a 200-word abstract including titles, subjects, and formats, and indicate the duration of the proposed films/videos and introduction/discussion.
Poster session
A space for Poster Exhibition will be provided. A 200-word abstract by the poster’s author, including five keywords for programming purposes, must be submitted.
Submission
Please submit your abstract no later than 31 July 2020, as both doc. & pdf. format attachment through the IASPM 2021 official website. You can easily find detailed guidelines and templates at the online submission page.
  • * Each participant must be a member of any branch of IASPM: www.iaspm.net/how-to-join.
  • * Each participant may present only one paper at the Conference, but may also preside over a panel or serve as a discussant.
  • * Abstracts will be accepted in English, IASPM’s official language.
  • * Letters of acceptance will be sent by 30 September 2020.
If you have any question, feel free to contact IASPM 2021 Secretariat (iaspm2021@gmail.com)
Covid 19 Information
We are aware of the global pandemic’s impact across the world and take issues of safety seriously. We hope that by the time of the conference, various COVID19-related restrictions will have eased more or less completely. We are monitoring the situation closely and will advise members accordingly.
Virtual Presentations
We are aware of the environmental impact of global travel, especially in light of the subject of the conference. We hope that moving some of the conference online will be one way of addressing this ecological issue. Circumstances surrounding the current pandemic have also made virtual research sharing more necessary. We are preparing so that at least some portions of the conference can take place online and interested parties may be able to attend the conference virtually. More information will be published when it is available.
The conference organizers look forward to receiving your submissions!
With kindest regards,
IASPM Executive Committee:
  • Rupert Till, Chair
  • Beatriz Goubert, Secretary
  • Bernhard Steinbrecher, Membership Secretary
  • Simone Krueger Bridge, Treasurer
  • Kimi Kärki, Webmaster
  • Keewoong Lee, Conference Chair
  • Catherine Strong, Member-at-large
  • Andrea Dankić, Member-at-large

Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular Music, 1st Edition

sonicscape PUBLICATION

Made in Taiwan: Studies in Popular Music, is officially published by Routledge early this year. It is edited by me, Tung-hung, and Miaoju. Please recommend your institution/library to purchase a copy.

https://www.routledge.com/Made-in-Taiwan-Studies-in-Popular-Music-1st-Edition/Tsai-Ho-Jian/p/book/9780815360179

We hope the book will contribute to further dialogues. 
Also, last week, Taiwan Insight published six short articles about the book. Three of the articles by the contributors of the book, and the other, by other academic or industry insiders/observers. Maybe this will pique your curiosity. Please follow the links.

(1) https://taiwaninsight.org/2020/02/06/taiwanese-popular-music-as-world-history/ 

(2) https://taiwaninsight.org/2020/02/07/unpacking-indie-music-as-cool-ambassadors-reflections-on-taiwans-cultural-export-policies-2010-present/

(3) https://taiwaninsight.org/2020/02/10/the-academic-rappers-of-the-taiwanese-hip-hop-scene/

(4) https://taiwaninsight.org/2020/02/11/breakthrough-the-thinking-of-indigenous-music-as-a-style-of-music/

(5) https://taiwaninsight.org/2020/02/12/city-pop-in-taiwan-old-mainstreams-becoming-new-indies/

(6) https://taiwaninsight.org/2020/02/13/jay-chous-china-wind-pop-made-in-taiwan-and-its-transnational-audiences/

Sincerely,

Eva Tsai

CfP: Cultural Typhoon 2020

homey81 CALL FOR PAPERS

Cultural Typhoon 2020: Call for Papers

A Port of ‘Cranes’ in the 21st Century: Mobilities, Exchanges and Histories

Cultural Typhoon 2020 (CT2020) will be held in Nagasaki on June 27 – 28, 2020. It offers a great opportunity to discuss mobilities and exchanges of people, information, and knowledge in the age of globalization.

The Port of Nagasaki has been historically called “Crane Port” because the shape of the port looks like a crane with spread wings.

Nagasaki, with its Crane Port, has historically been a point of transit, hosting departures and arrivals between Japan and East Asia, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula; Southeast Asia; and Europe, particularly Portugal and The Netherlands.

Nagasaki’s various foods, lifestyles, festivals, architecture, and urban landscape evidence cultural exchange through this transit of people, goods, and ideas. While no cranes can be found living in Nagasaki, it is indeed a “city of cranes”—that is, a city of mobility, which is aptly embodied in the migratory bird—where people, goods, culture, and knowledge move across national borders.

To think about the history of Nagasaki is also to (re)consider the history of mobilities of human beings and our transnational cultural exchange, and narratives of industrialization and modernization. Cultural exchange with China and Korea over the centuries; the propagation and suppression of the Christian faith; the import of modern Western scientific knowledge as well as philosophy and literature; the development of modern shipbuilding as part of military and naval modernization; the coal mining industry’s industrialization and the ferrying of resources;, the immigration and, at times, exploitation of workers at sites close to the Nagasaki Port like Gunkanjima; and the devastation brought by war in the form of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki at the end of the WWII—such phenomena have left a unique impression on the culture of Nagasaki.

CT2020 is will be held at University of Nagasaki’s Siebold Campus. The name of the campus comes from the German physician and botanist who founded a private school, Narutaki Juku, where he taught Western science, medicine in particular, during the Edo Period (1603 – 1868).

The Association for Cultural Typhoon (ACT, Japan) is calling for proposals for panels and individual papers for the 2020 annual conference to be held at Siebold Campus, University of Nagasaki, Nagasaki, from June 27–28, 2020.

The deadline for application: 31st December, 2019, Japan time 23:00.

See the details here: http://cultural-typhoon.com/act/en/2019/11/call-for-paper-cultural-typhoon-2020/

The 7th Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies (IAPMS) Conference Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 23-25 July, 2020

sonicscape CONFERENCE

*** Dec 15, 2019: The deadline for the submission is extended to Jan 15, 2020. 

The 7th Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies (IAPMS) Conference Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

23-25 July, 2020

Organised by Inter-Asia Popular Music Studies Group (IAPMS Group)

Hosted by

Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract Submissions Deadline

15 December 2019

Theme: Asia’s Sonic (under)Currents and Currencies

The recent international popularity of Korean pop groups BTS and Blackpink placed Asia from passive recipients to active participants of otherwise US and UK dominated global pop music. However, the extent in which they represent and personify the rich undercurrent of popular music circulation in Asia remains debatable in Asia’s culturally diverse landscapes. While the digital platform and social media as well as travel have intensified the flows of popular music participation, it is probably premature to idealistically suggest the levelling of more enduring historical and cultural boundaries and borders. The post•global or post•digital condition needs discussion.

In this respect, the theme of this conference, “Sonic (under)Currents and Currencies” seeks to explore the responses of popular music as local, trans•local national and transnational formations and traditions to the disruptions and changes in the region’s changing techno•cultural landscape. Within such disruptions, the conference also explores the relevance and currencies of both assumptions and practices of popular music in the region. Examples range from genres and categories, cultural industries, politics and government, fandom and activism to name a few.

Since its first conference in 2008, the IAPMS has encouraged a diversity of scholarship at all levels about popular music studies in the context of Asia. The conference welcomes presentations from the academic community as well as practitioners, activists and policymakers. As the 7th conference will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the organising committee hopes to see greater representation of topics and presenters from ASEAN countries.

Tentative Schedule

22nd July 2020 – Arrival to Kuala Lumpur 23rd July 2020  – Registration, opening, conference begins

24th July 2020  – Conference sessions, concert 25th July 2020  – Conference sessions, closing ceremony

26th July 2020  – Excursion

Local arrangements information will be provided in early 2020 and sent to all participants via email.

Please submit an abstract (200-300 words) and short bio (max. 100 words) by 15th December 2019 to iapmsconference@gmail.com . For panels, please submit a general panel description of 200-300 words, along with three or four abstracts (200-300 words each) and biographies (max. 100 words each). Please use the form (download).

Notice of acceptance will be given by 1 February 2020

Registration Fee

Students:         RM100

Non Students:  RM200

Language

English, Bahasa Melayu

English is the official language of this symposium, however, presenters may choose to deliver their papers in Bahasa Melayu with English language Powerpoint presentation. However, all abstracts are to be submitted in English for review and selection purposes.

Publication

-­­  All presentations will be published in the IAPMS conference proceedings sponsored by Sunway University.

With the acceptance of your proposal by the Program Committee and the presentation of your paper at the conference, it is understood that your paper (in a revised and prepared version by you the author) will be included in the Proceedings of the Symposium published by Sunway University Press.

Program Committee

Chair            Kai Khiun Liew (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Members      Miaoju Jian (National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan)

                     Vicky Ho (The Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

                     Qian Zhang (Communication University of China, China)

                     Atchareeya Saisin (Chiang Mai University, Thailand)

                     Jungwon Kim (Yonsei University, Korea)

                     Fushiki Kaori (Taisho University, Japan)

                     Kyohei Miyairi (Independent Scholar, Japan)

                     Mayco Santaella (Sunway University, Malaysia)

                     Isabella Pek (SEAMEX Institute)

Local Arrangements Committee

Chair             Mayco Santaella (Sunway University, Malaysia)

Members       Azmyl Yusof (Sunway University, Malaysia)

                      Adil Johan (National University of Malaysia)

                      Christine Yong (Sunway University, Malaysia)

                      Rachel Ong (Sunway University, Malaysia)

                      Frank Ong (Sunway University, Malaysia)

                      Isabella Pek (SEAMEX Institute)

Webmaster

Hyunjoon Shin (Sungkonghoe University, Korea)

Jungyup Lee (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US/Korea)

Remembering Popular Music’s Past: Memory-Heritage-History

homey81 PUBLICATION
Remembering Popular Music’s Past: Memory-Heritage-History, edited by Lauren Istvandity, Sarah Baker, and Zelmarie Cantillon, Anthem Press (June 15, 2019)

‘Remembering Popular Music’s Past’ capitalises on the growing interest, globally, in the preservation of popular music’s material past and on scholarly explorations of the ways in which popular music, as heritage, is produced, legitimised and conferred cultural and historical significance. The chapters in this collection consider the spaces, practices and representations that constitute popular music heritage in order to elucidate how popular music’s past is lived in the present. Thus the focus is on the transformation of popular music into heritage, and the role of history and memory in this transformation. The collection is particularly interested in the ways in which popular music’s past becomes enacted in the present.

The chapters discuss a diverse array of topics but are unified by inquiry into the construction, curation, display, negotiation and perception of popular music’s past. The collection presents a critical perspective on academics’ involvement in ‘historian’s’ work of ‘reconstruction’ of the past through archival and analytical research. The cultural studies framework adopted in the collection encompasses unique approaches to popular music historiography, sociology, film analysis, and archival and museal work. Broadly ‘Remembering Popular Music’s Past’ deals with issues of precarity in popular music heritage, history and memory. The collection is a timely addition to a subfield of popular music studies and critical heritage studies that has grown exponentially in the past ten years.

Table of Contents

1. The Precarity of Memory, Heritage and History in Remembering Popular Music’s Past, Lauren Istvandity and Zelmarie Cantillon; MEMORY;
2. Consuming Popular Music Heritage, Paul Long;
3. ‘Back in the Day’: Experiencing and Retelling the Past as a Claim to Belong in the Current Northern Soul Scene, Sarah Raine;
4. Resilience and Change: Popular Folk Songs in a Cultural Landscape, Ashton Sinamai and John Schofield;
5. Remembering the Independent Record Shop: The Ordinary Affects of Leedin Records, Adele Pavlidis;
6. ‘Mean Streets’ as Heritage Object: Music, Nostalgia and the Museumification of Martin Scorsese, Amanda Howell; HERITAGE;
7. Mark II: Re-working the Heritage B(r)and, Shane Homan;
8. The Continually Precarious State of the Musical Object, Charles Fairchild;
9. Showing Off: Taking Popular Music Research into the Museum, Peter Doyle;
10. Preserving Icelandic Popular Music Heritage: Issues of Collection, Access and Representation, Zelmarie Cantillon, Bob Buttigieg and Sarah Baker;
11. Questioning the Future of Popular Music Heritage in the Age of Platform Capitalism, Raphaël Nowak; HISTORY;
12. Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Mystery Train’ (1989): Representing the Memphis Music Legacy on Film, Adriano Tedde and David Baker;
13. Phenomenology of the Surf Ballroom’s Winter Dance Party: Affect and Community at a Popular Music Heritage Tourism Event, Sheryl Davis, Sherry Davis and Zelmarie Cantillon;
14. Disappearing History: Two Case Studies on the Precarity of Music Writing, Ian Rogers;
15. Great Albums, Greedy Collectors and Gritty Sounds? A View from ‘Snobbish Connoisseurs’ on the Canonization and Archivalism of Korean Pop-Rock, Hyunjoon Shin and Keewoong Lee;
16. Towards a Feminist History of Popular Music: Re-examining Writing on Musicians and Domestic Violence in the Wake of #metoo, Catherine Strong;

[Call for Papers] International postgraduate workshop on creative labour in East Asia and Beyond: work, subjectivity and alternatives in the global creative economies

homey81 CALL FOR PAPERS

Call for Papers
International postgraduate workshop on creative labour in East Asia and Beyond: work, subjectivity and alternatives in the global creative economies

Dates: 16 – 18 May 2019
Place: Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

Convenors
Jeroen de Kloet (University of Amsterdam)
Anthony Fung (Beijing Normal University)
Yiu Fai Chow (Hong Kong Baptist University)
Jian Lin (University of Amsterdam)

We invite abstract submissions from post-graduate and Ph.D researchers to a workshop on creative labour in East Asia.

Generally all human labour is potentially embodied with creativity (McGuigan 2010: 324). In the past two decades, however, the circulation of capital has delimited creativity as a definitive feature that distinguishes certain occupations in the so-called creative industries. Policy makers around the globe, following the 1990’s British government, embrace the ‘creative industries’ discourse and trumpet creative work for its bohemian spirit, autonomy and playfulness. Nevertheless, critiques have noted that the real situation of creative work is not as autonomous, self-expressive and fulfilling as imagined by creative-industry policies. Creative workers have become a creative precariat, suffering under precarious working conditions and surrounded by problems such as short-term contracts, unequal earnings and a lack of unions (Curtin and Sanson, 2016; Hesmondhalgh and Baker, 2011). Discourses surrounding creativity function as elements connected by the ‘creativity dispositif’, to implement job creation while also to discipline youthful population – to be creative (McRobbie 2016; Reckwitz 2017).

Most of these claims are elaborated from the perspective of western, ‘neoliberal’ creative industries. The critical language used often directs all discussion of ‘inequality’, ‘precarity’ and ‘self-exploitation’ of creative labour towards a critique of ‘neoliberalism’, thus running the risk of overlooking different socio-political contexts. The global hierarchy of creative industries and the national political atmosphere often affect the condition of creative labour and make the discourse of creativity function in different ways (Fung, 2016; Lin 2019). For example, in the case of China, culture and creativity are not only touted for ‘restructuring economy’, but also designated as instrument for wielding ‘soft power’ and maintaining social stability (Keane 2010).
·      How does the creativity dispositif function differently across different geo-political contexts, such as in East Asia?
·      Instead of grouping all the creative labourers as ‘precariat’, how do creative practitioners from different social, political contexts experience precarity differently?
·      How do these distinctive social contexts also result in different modes of governance and subjectification?
·      Where and how can we look for ‘alternatives’ – when we take the issue of contextuality into account, how can we conceive ‘good cultural work’ and to make creative labour ‘good work’ (Hesmondhalgh and Baker, 2011)?

To bring the global perspective to the study of creative production and creative labour, this workshop invites scholars from both global and regional (East Asian) contexts to engage with the above questions on the labour issues in contemporary cultural production, and to reflect upon the possibilities for good work and alternative creative economies brought by the interaction between the global capitalism and the local geopolitical economy.

Abstracts (max. 300 words) and short biographical notes (max. 100 words) need to be submitted to j.lin2@uva.nl by 7 February 2019. Accepted participants will be notified by 1 March 2019. Workshop participation is free of charge and we will cover the flight and accommodation expenses for selected speakers.

A selection of workshop papers will be published as special issue in a peer-reviewed journal.

The workshop is part of the ChinaCreative project (http://chinacreative.humanities.uva.nl) that is funded by a consolidator grant from the European Research Council. It is co-organized by the University of Amsterdam, Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong Baptist University.