KSCB154 Big City and Small History: Social-Geographic Study on Taiwanese Popular Music

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2018
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Prof. CS Stone Shih (lecturer), Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D. (deputy)
Guaranteed by
doc. Lucie Olivová, MA, Ph.D., DSc.
Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Chinese Studies – Asia Studies Centre – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 27. 3. 12:30–14:05 U37, 14:10–15:45 U37, 17:30–19:05 U37, Wed 28. 3. 12:30–14:05 U33, 14:10–15:45 U32, 17:30–19:05 U25, Thu 29. 3. 10:50–12:25 U37, 14:10–15:45 U32, 15:50–17:25 U26
Prerequisites (in Czech)
KSCA013 History of China II || KSCB004 History and Culture of Taiwan || KSCA028 History of Modern China
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Focused on Taiwan and its popular music in history, this course will trace various kinds of ethnic Taiwanese popular music forms and performing locations in urban environment. Big cities, such as Taipei and Shanghai, will be the main target for students to understand the ‘small’ cultural history, what actually was happening in the local places. Besides, Taiwanese popular music was also heavily influenced by music in Tokyo due to Taiwan’s colonial history in the early 19 Century. Following by in-depth study to Taiwan’s history, digital mapping tool QGIS (Quantum Geographic Information Systems) introduction and many kinds of vocal texts to be explored as examples, this course is dedicated to selected topics related to the interaction of people, music, and space in Taipei and Shanghai.
Syllabus
  • 1. Course Introduction
  • Taipei: the core big city in Taiwan
  • What is Taiwanese popular music(Taiwanesepop)? Genres of popular song
  • Taiwan’s ethnicity: the native Taiwanese, the mainlanders, the hakka people and the aborigines
  • Other related music forms: Japanese enka, Japanese pop, American pop; with examples from digitalized records
  • The ‘Geologies’ of Taiwanese Popular Music
  • 2. Learning Digital Mapping via GIS
  • Representation, bridging and interpretation: on the realization of social geographic information systems
  • Introducing free software QGIS (Quantum Geographic Information Systems)
  • 3. Understanding Historical Taipei: GIS and Digital Humanities
  • How to realize social–geographic study on big city and small history?
  • Digitalized enka-style Taipei: The Japanese cultural space of Taiwanese ballad imagery
  • 4. Into the Music: Taiwanese ballads and Shanghai silent movie (1930s)
  • The first Taiwanese popular music song: Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood (1932)
  • Shanghai silent film《Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood》(1931) ; with examples from digitalized records
  • 5. Entangled Identities(I): Taiwanese ballads and Tokyo (1930-1950s)
  • Entangled identities: music and social significance of Hsu Shih—a vanguard of Taiwanese ballads
  • Debate on the ‘mixed-blood song’ of Taiwanese ballads; with examples from digitalized records
  • 6. Entangled Identities(II): Mandarin popular song and Shanghai (1950-1960s)
  • The performing history of Taiwan’s singing diva Chi-Lu Shyia(1936-).
  • A great quadraphonic (Taiwanese, Mandarin, Japanese, and English) singer; with examples from digitalized records
  • Question on ‘Mandarin-centralism’: Taipei and the influence of Shanghai music
  • ‘The forbidden song policy’ and localization of Taiwanese pop
  • 7. Entangled Identities(III): Campus Folk Songs and China (1970-1980s)
  • The economic development of Taiwan and rise of Campus Folk Songs(1970-80s) with examples from digitalized records(LP)
  • Taiwan or China: the rise of nationalism and the ‘singing our own song movement’ (1930 VS 1970s)
  • ‘Differentiation Nostalgia’: Taiwanese ballads and the Campus Folk Songs
  • 8. Toward the East-Asia: The Medley Mixed-blood Song and Decolonization Process
  • Andrew Jones’s idea of media loop embodied in Shanghai’s cultural life of listening
  • Gilles Deleuze’s line of flight; the underground circuit of Taiwanese pop
  • The medley mixed-blood song: linguistic hybridity in all forms of Taiwanese popular music;
  • Inland/outland transportations of Taiwanese pop
  • 9. The Sociology of Pop Music: An East-Asian ‘Current Circuit’ Perspective
  • How is social space possible? Geographic Information Systems between Humanity-Sociology and Geography
  • Song-spreading across the Strait: Current Circuit and Taiwanese popular music
  • 10. Students’ Final Oral Presentation
  • A final presentation based on visual material
Teaching methods
Lectures with class discussion.
Assessment methods
• Class attendance is compulsory; students have to actively participate in classroom discussion and have to be prepared according lesson’s requirements
• Each student or students in peer groups will prepare a final presentation based on visual material
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2018/KSCB154