Abstract
This paper re-evaluates the music of Du Mingxin, one of China's leading composers since the 1950s, challenging the prevailing scholarly view of him as a conservative artist.
The question of 'Chineseness' is of paramount importance in Du's works. Du himself describes his oeuvre as a musical quest for 'Chineseness,' and researchers have explored how the notion has influenced his works at multiple levels, from their themes and titles to their musical language. Existing scholarship has attempted to establish the 'Chineseness' of Du's works by tracing the composer's use of elements traditionally associated with Chinese culture in his music. This approach, however, has produced a clichéd portrayal of Du as a composer anchored to the Socialist era (1949- 1976), minimising his contribution to China's post-Mao musical scene.
Against this interpretation, I argue that Du's purported conservatism is largely a (misguided) scholarly construct, resulting from an unwarranted reliance on an oversimplified, essentialist understanding of 'Chineseness.' I propose that 'Chineseness' be considered a Lacanian master-signifier, a perspectival shift allowing us to reveal the emancipatory political project implicit in Du's music, with significant implications for a contemporary re-theorisation of 'Chineseness.'
To illustrate this, I develop a novel analysis of Du's Piano Concerto "The Elegance of Spring" (1988), a work historically considered as emblematic of Du's traditionalism. Contrary to this mainstream assumption, focusing on the concerto's formal and organisational dimensions, my analysis dispels the semblance of conservatism, repositioning Du's music as a significant, influential contribution to the renewal of Chinese music in the post-Mao era.
The question of 'Chineseness' is of paramount importance in Du's works. Du himself describes his oeuvre as a musical quest for 'Chineseness,' and researchers have explored how the notion has influenced his works at multiple levels, from their themes and titles to their musical language. Existing scholarship has attempted to establish the 'Chineseness' of Du's works by tracing the composer's use of elements traditionally associated with Chinese culture in his music. This approach, however, has produced a clichéd portrayal of Du as a composer anchored to the Socialist era (1949- 1976), minimising his contribution to China's post-Mao musical scene.
Against this interpretation, I argue that Du's purported conservatism is largely a (misguided) scholarly construct, resulting from an unwarranted reliance on an oversimplified, essentialist understanding of 'Chineseness.' I propose that 'Chineseness' be considered a Lacanian master-signifier, a perspectival shift allowing us to reveal the emancipatory political project implicit in Du's music, with significant implications for a contemporary re-theorisation of 'Chineseness.'
To illustrate this, I develop a novel analysis of Du's Piano Concerto "The Elegance of Spring" (1988), a work historically considered as emblematic of Du's traditionalism. Contrary to this mainstream assumption, focusing on the concerto's formal and organisational dimensions, my analysis dispels the semblance of conservatism, repositioning Du's music as a significant, influential contribution to the renewal of Chinese music in the post-Mao era.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 11 Sept 2024 |
Event | Royal Musical Association 60th Annual Conference - Senate House and the British Library, London, United Kingdom Duration: 11 Sept 2024 → 13 Sept 2024 https://www.rma.ac.uk/events/rma-annual-conference/ |
Conference
Conference | Royal Musical Association 60th Annual Conference |
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Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | London |
Period | 11/09/24 → 13/09/24 |
Internet address |
Scopus Subject Areas
- Music