East Asia

Decoding the imperial “grip” in J.G. Farrell’s The Singapore Grip

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Prashant Maurya¹ & Nagendra Kumar²

¹Humanities & Applied Sciences Area, Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, India. Email: prashant.maurya@iimranchi.ac.in

²Dept. of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India. Email: nagendra.kumar@hs.iitr.ac.in

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.21

First published: June 26, 2022 | Area: Postcolonial | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Volume 14, Number 2, 2022)
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Abstract

The Singapore Grip (1978) is the third instalment of the Empire trilogy by Booker Prize-winning novelist James Gordon Farrell. It inscribes colonial Singapore’s socio-economic situation through the story of a British tycoon who is engaged in multi-commercial enterprises, mainly rubber business, in the colony of Singapore. The present paper examines the titular phrase “Singapore Grip” in the novel. It argues that Farrell explores many aspects of British colonialism in Singapore through this phrase. By decoding the multiple connotations of the phrase, through reading instances from the novel, the paper will foreground the social, political, and economic issues critical in understanding colonialism in colonial Singapore.

Keywords: historical novel, colonial Singapore, J.G. Farrell, imperialism, grip, capitalism.

Introduction

While accepting the Booker Prize in 1973, James Gordon Farrell had criticised the then Booker Prize sponsor, Booker McConnell Ltd, for its exploitative policies towards the poorly paid employees working in the Far East units. And during his acceptance speech, he declared that “he would use his prize money (£5000) to write a full-scale study of commercial exploitation, set around the fall of Singapore in 1941” (McLeod, 2007, p. 91). The Singapore Grip (1978) is the product of Farrell’s desire during that point in time. It is the third instalment of his Empire trilogy, the first and second being Troubles (1970) and The Siege of Krishnapur (1973).

The phase of nearly two and a half months, beginning from December 1941 to mid-February 1942, is this novel’s timeframe. It inscribes Singapore’s socio-economic situation during this phase through the story of a British tycoon, Walter Blackett, who is engaged in multi commercial enterprises, mainly rubber business in the colony of Singapore. The novel’s plot relates to a series of events taking place in and around the lives of the characters of the Blackett family amidst the gradual annexation of Malaya by the Japanese Imperial Force. According to Earl Rovit (1998), this novel is a chronicle of an “imperialistic venture, predetermined by the greed of venal men” (p. 640). While the novel’s chief focus is on the British commercial exploitation for sure, there are certain other grave issues that Farrell foregrounds in the novel. The present paper examines the titular phrase “Singapore Grip” of the novel to highlight those issues. It argues that Farrell explores many aspects of British colonialism in Singapore through this phrase. By decoding the multiple connotations of the phrase, through a reading of instances from the novel, the paper foregrounds the social, political, and economic issues critical in understanding colonialism in colonial Singapore.

Why Singapore?

Farrell has conceived Singapore as the setting of his novel for three significant reasons. First, Singapore was a colony of the British Empire. Writing a novel set in Singapore would complete the trilogy, which Farrell conceived to be based on the British Empire’s experiences in its three different colonies. It was probably the first colony that the British had negotiated for settlement. Sir Stamford Raffles, the British diplomat and statesman, “recognised the island’s geopolitical strategic significance and potential as a way station along the India-China trade route” (Horton, 2013, p. 1221). Besides, Singapore was the only colony, annexed under the Empire’s nose by another Imperial army by force. The British administration felt humiliated due to this loss. This loss created a state of embarrassment for the British Empire, which had never expected such a setback in its colony. Colin Cross considers it the “worst single military defeat the British Empire ever suffered” (1968, p. 240). This historic loss of the British also changed the perspective that the British Empire is invincible. To emphasise, the event marked the remaining days of the British Empire in its colonies worldwide. After this event, we see that the British Empire vanishes with its colonies’ decolonisation in the coming two decades. Hence, this episode holds a significant place in British Empire’s history, and nothing could be better than Singapore as a setting to close the trilogy on the British Empire. Ronald Binns rightly says, “The fall of Singapore in 1942 provided Farrell with an appropriately apocalyptic terminus to his trilogy” (1986, p. 85).

The second reason why Farrell chose Singapore was its economic significance for Britain. It was an important trading post and a vital economic hub of the British Empire in many ways. Cross observes, “[I]n the British imperial mystique it ranked second only to the Suez Canal itself” (1968, p. 141). It was a junction, halting-place and terminal for ships travelling to Australia and other nearby colonies and islands. It also contributed immensely to the British economy through its natural resources and vast plantations, mostly tin and rubber. John McLeod (2007) reiterates the same that Singapore had been a “significant commercial centre and a lucrative contributor to the fortunes of the British Empire – at one point almost half of the world’s rubber and tin was manufactured in the region” (p. 80).

The third reason, more of a personal nature, is that Singapore was one of the critical Naval Bases of the British and the Allied powers in Southeast Asia during the Second World War until its annexation by the Japanese Imperial Forces in February 1941. Farrell himself had witnessed the Second World War bombing at his own house, “Boscobel” in Southport in 1941 when he was six years old. The event affected him greatly. How could he write a historical novel series without writing something about the Second World War, whose memories were so fresh in his mind? According to Binns (1986), the bomb attack on his home “made an immense impression upon him” (p. 18), and its impact is visible in his mature fiction.

Singapore’s portrayal in the present novel embeds Farrell’s personal experiences, his conviction in communist ideology, his stand towards the anti-capitalist economy and his expectations and ambitions as a creative writer. It becomes a site where Farrell pours his long-standing anxiety and reflections on colonialism. As a setting, Singapore helps Farrell fulfil his creative aspirations and write in an authentic way, which he believes his contemporaries lack due to their “narrow, conventional and impoverished subject matter and stylistic resource” (Binns, 1986, p. 15).

Decoding the metaphor “grip.”

Farrell explores many aspects of British colonialism in Singapore through the phrase, “Singapore Grip”. Initially, it is a mysterious phrase for the novel’s characters as everybody has his/her understanding of the phrase. But as the novel ends, the multi-connotation of the phrase appears in its full form. Farrell introduces his readers to the nexus of grip, which manifests itself in various forms. The following subsections highlight and discuss instances in the novel, where the “grip” has been exercised.

3.1 British economic strategies: The capitalist grip

According to Nayar, among other kinds of violence of colonialism, the economic violence is so “integral to the history of ‘Third World’ nations that no literature or critical approach, as far as I know, has been able to ignore it” (2008, p. 1). It is a well-known fact that the British Empire had extravagantly generated wealth from its southeast colonies. Being one of the most affluent colonies in terms of natural resources, plantations and cheap labour, Singapore, used to deliver an over-plus of monetary profit to the Empire. Farrell weaves Blackett and Web’s story to expose and comment on the grip of the exploitative British economic practices in Singapore. His “denunciation of imperial exploitation and mercantile greed becomes stronger in the novel” (Saunders, 2001, p. 457).

Farrell exposes the hollowness of the empire’s economic strategies in its colonies, which is truly capitalist, self-interested and cares little about the native smallholders. Binns (1986) rightly comments that Farrell’s “[N]arrative explores the vocabulary and practices of capitalism, investing the role played in business life by equity, bold holdings, commodity brokers, stocks, and standard profits” (p. 95). Blackett and Web rise on the native rubber smallholders’ cost, leading them to a perishable state. The anecdote of the old man left in the Chinese “dying house” to die reveals the corruption involved in the British system, which hampers the growth of the person at the lowest strata of society. The old man exposes the British authority’s multi-layered exploitation to Matthew. He reveals how the British estates swindle him and other smallholders. He tells how “the inspector did not give him a proper share of rubber to sell when he came to look at his trees for Restriction Scheme” (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 401). Also, “the European estates were given extra share for trees that were too young to make rubber while the smallholders were given nothing (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 403, italics mine).

Although the British Crown was running welfare schemes for native peoples, like the old man, unfortunately, the British people in authority never let them access that. The Rubber Institute, which was set up and run by the government, helped only the British estates and not the shareholders. The institute offered good rubber plants or the “high–yielding clones” only to the estate planters and not to the shareholders. Once they produce the rubber, the Inspectors do not give them a fair share to sell. Even the Rubber Regulation Committee that was constituted for rubber exports from Singapore had twenty-seven men from the estates and only one from smallholders (for formality), thus denying their proper representation. He critiques the development programme of the Empire, meant to uplift their condition, as it is corrupt. The conversation between the old man and Matthew opens a space for critical analysis. It reveals that the Empire is very selective toward the idea of progress and economic independence for Singapore. The duplicitousness of the Empire lurks from the corruption in the programmes run in the name of developing and progressing Singapore. The British are themselves engaged in snatching away the benefits, which rarely reach the indigenous people.

Further, the grip of business in Singapore’s ordinary life is profound. The conception of Singapore is that of a land engrossed in commerce and trade, creating wealth. Huat (2008) aptly says, “[T]he economic success of Singapore has made it a ‘model’ in its own right for other postcolonial nations and in this sense ‘post-colonial’, where the global rather than colonial is the reference for the local” (p. 239). Therefore, it was one of the favourite business spots of traders and merchants. The commercial spirit of Singapore is apparent during the war times also. When Major puts an advertisement in a newspaper calling for assistance to the committee, the replies he receives are astonishing. One Chinese firm letters him to sell his stirrup pump (used to extinguish the fire), and another firm offers him to buy a rake-and-shovel from his firm for lifting out firebombs. This is not an end to the commercial spirit during the war times; two other replies are more amusing. One is of a certain firm selling Evelyn Astrova Face Powder with a tagline “War is horrible but preserve your composure and don’t look terrible” (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 259), another is of Gold Bird (Ceylon) Tea, which stated, it “will soothe and refresh you in your worried moments” (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 259). The idea that business does not bother the state of affairs till it is making a profit is emphasised as true by Farrell. During such odd times, when people’s lives are in danger, the business enterprises are engrossed in money-making, taking advantage of the situation.

3.2 Labour trafficking: The colonial grip

Singapore is a multicultural country with people living there from different parts of the world. These people, in some cases the ancestors of these people, had come here as indentured labours to work as coolies on plantations. Not all of them came willingly; the colonisers’ grip was so tight that they had to come. To meet the labourers’ demand, Britain organised large scale emigration of Indian and Chinese labourers to overseas plantations economies like Singapore (Sen, 2016, p. 42). The agents of the British Empire roam in the poverty-stricken villages to trap labourers. The grip of the colonial agents can be inferred from the following lines:

[A]gents had roamed the poverty-stricken villages of South China recruiting simple peasants with promises of wealth in Malaya together with a small advance payment (sufficient to entangle them in a debt they would be unable to repay if they changed their minds), then delivered them to departure camps known as ‘baracoons’; once there they will be entirely in the power of the entrepreneur for use as cargo in his coolie-ships (each person allotted, as a rule, a space of two feet by four feet for a voyage that might take several weeks). (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 294)

Vera’s father and uncle had also been shipped from South China to this growing economic hub. He and his brother were brought here as indentured labourers, along with many others. Unfortunately, his brother died on the way because of suffocation in the airtight compartments of the ship in which they were brought. The unfortunate ones did not even get a proper burial, and their bodies were thrown out in the sea to save the ships from contamination. There is a similarity between the ships and the holocaust trains of the Nazis. Similarly, Vera’s uncle met the same fate as many Jews while transported from one camp to another in holocaust trains. This episode reflects that the British colonials were no less cruel and inhuman than the Nazis as far as labour transportation is concerned. Farrell portrays a similar incidence of inhumane treatment in Troubles, where Edward forces Murphy to become the subject of his dehumanizing scientific experiments (Maurya & Kumar 2020b, p. 2175).

3.3Proliferating prostitution: The sexual grip

Prostitution and brothels are at the core of colonial Singapore. According to James Warren (1990), prostitution flourished in colonial Singapore and became a multi-dollar business (p. 361). He notes that the “presence of prostitutes was functional in supporting colonial economic expansion” (1993, pp. 257-258; qtd. in Hui, 2003, p. 11). Lenore Manderson also notes that colonial capitalism “built based on imported male labour and the greedy demands for raw materials of industrialising Europe” (1997, p. 372) contributed to the massive prostitution in Singapore.

The imperial grip on the brothel business is evident in the novel. Farrell uses sex and prostitution as a tool to critique the Empire that controlled and proliferated prostitution for its own ulterior economic, social and political motives. The depiction of the young school-going Chinese girl on display for the British customers doing her homework draws the readers’ attention to the vile brothel business where one exchanges sexual favours for money. The licensing of brothels in colonial Singapore was a deliberate attempt by the colonial administration to serve the sexual needs of the hundreds of thousands of labourers and soldiers deployed in military assignments. The brothels helped the British administration generate huge revenue and helped them control the labourers and maintain a peaceful situation in the colony of Singapore by providing them access to sex. It also helped them control homosexuality among the British soldiers which was against the Victorian morality and code of conduct (Maurya & Kumar 2022, n. p.).

According to McLeod, “The connection between industry and prostitution is clinched in the novel’s title” (2007, p. 86). The title has sexual connotations as we see that Ehrendorf understands two meanings of the phrase. First, it means the rattan suitcase; second, it refers to the “ability acquired by certain ladies of Singapore to control their autonomous vaginal muscles, apparently with delightful results” (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 588). When Matthew first arrives in Singapore, he is advised by many to must-see “Singapore Grip”. Also, in the novel, a reader comes across many instances where commerce is explicitly portrayed in sexual terms. For instance, Walter uses his daughter Joan as a sexpionage or honey trap for business profit. Joan’s character in the novel appears more of a coquette, hunting for suitors and ditching them in one or the other way when her purpose is served. McLeod very aptly considers Walter and Joan as pimp and prostitute, respectively, who exploit the “business of pleasure to generate and secure financial gain” (2007, p. 86).

In another instance, during the grand parade’s rehearsal to mark the golden jubilee of Blacketts and Webb, Monty, as a joke, adds a packet of contraceptives to the cornucopia of rubber products. The presence of contraceptives in the float of the parade which was to show the benefits and development the British have brought to Singapore hints at the link between commerce and the lewd world of sex in colonial Singapore. Elsewhere, one of the pimps cajoles Matthew by saying, “Nice Girl . . . ‘Guarantee Virgin’ . . . You wantchee try Singapore Glip?” (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 216). In addition to the aforementioned instances, the phrase “Singapore grip” refrains many times in the novel, thus suggesting that sex is integral to colonial Singapore’s business and commerce.

3.4 Diseases and illness: The medical grip

The metaphors of disease are essential ingredients and recurring features of Farrell’s trilogy novels. According to Maurya and Kumar (2020a), Farrell’s novels are “crammed with instances of health problems, disease, medicine and death” (p. 55). Binns (1986), Crane and Livett (1997) and McLeod (2007) suggest Farrell’s biographical account as the backdrop of his interest in disease and medicine, as he suffered from a polio attack at the very young age of twenty-one. Binns explains the traumatic episode in Farrell’s life:

Prior to the polio attack, Farrell had been a healthy 12-stone 21-year-old, keen on sport. He was now transformed, literally overnight, into an invalid. His hair turned white, his weight shrank to 7 stone 6 pounds and he lost the use of both arms. He spent six months in a device, nowadays obsolete, known as an iron lung, which was used to administer prolonged artificial respiration by means of mechanical pumps. (1986, p. 22)

Farrell’s painful and terrifying experiences manifest themselves in the plot of his novels, where the presence of diseases is explicit. We also come across two mandatory characters, one a doctor and the other who suffers from medical complications. Farrell’s obsession with diseases, medicine, and doctors appears in The Singapore Grip in a similar vein. While the coming of capitalism in the novel has been referred to as the spreading of disease, the prevalence of venereal diseases among the Chinese prostitutes of colonial Singapore is imperative. According to Warren, [V]enereal Diseases continued to wreak havoc upon the Chinese population right up to the eve of the fall of Singapore” (1993, p. 177). The grip of venereal diseases among the prostitutes of colonial Singapore was a major concern for the Empire as its soldiers used to visit brothels. Although the colonial administration tried to curb the menace by licencing brothels following the Contagious Disease ordinance, brothels’ clandestine operations and neglected medical facilities for prostitutes increased VD’s spread. In the novel, we see that Matthew and his friends decided not to enjoy prostitutes for fear of venereal diseases at ‘The Great World’. Farrell writes,

[I]n a nutshell, instead of risking heaven knows what dreadful diseases with the sort of women one was likely to pick up here at The World or anywhere else in Singapore he and his chums had decided to club together and they’d found a very nice Chinese girl called Sally who had her own flat in Bukit Timah. She was clean and not the kind who’d get drunk or make a fuss. (Farrell, 1978/2010, p. 203)

In another instance, the epidemic of typhus and cholera among the war victims concerns Major and Dupigny. Cholera is indispensable in the medical discourse of the South/Southeast Asian colonies of Britain. Farrell deals extensively with cholera in The Siege of Krishnapur; however, his focus in The Singapore Grip is malaria, tuberculosis, and dengue. Life in Tanglin is overwhelmed with numerous medical complications, especially Malaria and Dengue. Describing certain disadvantages in the colony of Singapore, Farrell prominently highlights malaria and dengue in the following lines, which are part and parcel of Singapore’s life.

Moreover, the mosquitoes in this particular suburb were only distant cousins of the mild insects which irritate us on an English summer evening: in Tanglin you had to face the dreaded anopheles variety, each a tiny flying hypodermic syringe containing a deadly dose of malaria. And if by good fortune, you managed to avoid malaria there was still another mosquito waiting in the wings, this one clad in striped football socks, ready to inject you with dengue fever. (1978/2010, pp. 5-6)

Farrell describes the poor natives in the novel inflicted not only with malaria but also with tuberculosis. The poor who sleep on the floor and hardly manage to earn bread twice do not ever get a chance for medical treatment. They die with that disease, and this is how they are relieved from its grip. Farrell ponders, could the bombing of Singapore relieve these poor creatures from their suffering? Farrell’s poignant remark, “It will take high explosive, in the end, to loosen the grip of tuberculosis and malaria on them” (1978/2010, p. 248), demonstrates how poverty and imperial negligence impede a healthy life for the natives. Apart from all this, the grip of fever among the characters is common in the novel. For instance, Mr Webb dies after a prolonged illness, Matthew spends a considerable time in bed due to fever, etc. Binns rightly observes, “Illness is a powerful underlying metaphor in Farrell’s historical novels” (1986, p. 23), through which he suggests the end of the British Empire in Singapore.

Conclusion

To conclude, the discussion in this article has decoded the multi-connotation of the phrase “Singapore grip”. Referring to instances from the novel, it has shown how the phrase prominently manifests itself in colonial economic, sexual, medical grip. It has been argued that Farrell has foregrounded the stranglehold of British colonial policy in Singapore through the phrase. The novelist has been successful in bringing out all the ugly displays of power, politics and vile that the British colonial masters exercised in their colonies to sustain and up their economic interests. For them, the subjects are there to be used, exploited and hence mostly ‘invisible’. However, the “grip” is temporary, and hence its power and authority also are transient. Farrell challenges this notion of external grip, and we see that by the time the novel ends, the grips are released. Walter loses his business, Joan loses Matthew, Britain loses Singapore and the grip of western culture and economy in Singapore is loosened.

Declaration of Conflict of Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest.

Funding

No funding has been received for the publication of this article. It is published free of any charge.

References

Binns, R. (1986). J. G. Farrell. London: Methuen.

Crane, R. & Jennifer, L. (1997). Troubled Pleasures: The Fiction of JG Farrell. Dublin: Four Courts Press.

Cross, C. (1968). The Fall of the British Empire, 1918-1968. New York: Coward McCann Publishers.

Farrell, J. G. (2007). The Siege of Krishnapur. London: Orion Publishing Group. (Original work published 1973).

Farrell, J. G. (2010). The Singapore Grip. London: Orion Publishing Group. (Original work published 1978).

Horton, P. (2013). Singapore: Imperialism and Post-Imperialism, Athleticism, Sport, Nationhood, and Nation Building. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 30(11): 1221-1234.

Huat, C. B. (2008). Southeast Asia in Postcolonial Studies: An Introduction. Postcolonial Studies, 11(3): 231-240.

Hui, T. B. (2003). ‘Protecting’ Women: Legislation and Regulation of Women’s Sexuality in Colonial Malaya. Gender, Technology and Development, 7(1): 2-30.

Manderson, L. (1997). Colonial Desires: Sexuality, Race, and Gender in British Malaya. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 7(3): 372-388.

Maurya, P. & Kumar, N. (2020a). Colonial Medicine and Cholera: Historicizing Victorian Medical Debates in J.G. Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur. Southeast Asian Review of English, 57(2): 53-73.

Maurya, P. & Kumar, N. (2020b). The Member of ‘Quality’ and the ‘Other’: Colonial Fallacy and Othering in James G. Farrell’s Troubles. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 28(3): 2167-2180

Maurya, P. & Kumar, N. (2022). Race, Sexuality, and Prostitution in colonial Singapore: Reading J.G Farrell’s The Singapore Grip. South East Asia Research. Manuscript accepted for publication.

McLeod, J. (2007). J. G. Farrell. Devon: Northcote House Publishers.

Nayar, P. K. (2008). Postcolonial Literature: An Introduction. New Delhi: Pearson.

Rovit, E. (1998). J. G. Farrell and the Imperial Theme. The Sewanee Review, 106(4): 630-644.

Saunders, M. (2001). The Tone of Empire: J. G. Farrell’s Great Theme. [Review of the book J. G. Farrell: The Making of a Writer by L. Greacen]. The Sewanee Review, 109(3): 453-458.

Sen, S. (2016). Indentured Labour from India in the Age of Empire. Social Scientist, 44(1): 35 -74.

Warren, J. F. (1990). Prostitution and the Politics of Venereal Disease: Singapore 1870-98. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 21(2): 360-383.

Warren, J. F. (1993). Ah Ku and Karayuki-san: Prostitution in Singapore 1870-1940. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Prashant Maurya is an Assistant Professor of English and Area Chairperson of Humanities & Applied Sciences at the Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, India. His areas of interest are Literature &History, Historical Fiction, British Raj/Empire in fiction, and South Asian Literature. He has published in journals such as English Academy Review, South Asia Research, Rethinking History, South Asian Popular Culture, Southeast Asian Review of English, etc. He is an Early Career Member of the Royal Historical Society of London and sits on the Board of Historical Fictions Research Network. He can be reached at prashant.maurya@iimranchi.ac.in

Nagendra Kumar is a HAG Professor of English and former Head of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India. He specializes in English Language, Literature and Communication Studies. Besides publishing a widely reviewed book he has published research papers in reputed, Scopus and Web of Science indexed journals. He has delivered invited lectures and plenary talks in dozens of FDPs around the country and has successfully conducted around 15 AICTE/TEQIP Sponsored Short-term Courses and Workshops on various aspects of the teaching pedagogy, Soft Skills, Communication and Culture. He has been the recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award of IIT Roorkee for the year 2015. He can be reached at Nagendra.kumar@hs.iitr.ac.in

Integration of the Traditions of Folk-Instrumental Art into the Works of Chinese Composers of the 20th and 21st Centuries

East Asia/Systematic Musicology/V14N2

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Mengwei Cheng¹, Botian Pang¹, Xiaoxuan Zeng¹, Weifeng Xu¹ & Yuan Chang¹

¹Department of Music History, Lviv National Music Academy named after Mykola Lysenko, Lviv, Ukraine. Email: cheng@nuos.pro

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.19

First published: June 26, 2022 | Area: Systematic Musicology | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Volume 14, Number 2, 2022)
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Abstract

The problem of integration of folk art and, in particular, instrumental art, into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, in the light of the above-mentioned phenomena, is relevant, comprehensive and, to a certain extent, inexhaustible for the researchers of the world musicological science. This was a factor that prompted disclosure of the topic in the publication in question, which was at the same time the reason for writing the study. Its relevance stems from the importance of a deep understanding of such a phenomenon as folk instrumental art and its implementation in compositional practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of integrating folklore (its instrumental branch) into professional academic music of China. The main methods for achieving this, are the principles and approaches chosen here to review, collect, study and a certain systematic compilation of sources relating to Chinese music in general, as well as its folk-instrumental field – in particular. The result of the activities undertaken is the categories of all the sectors of the problem under consideration, derived from the research process. They form a coherent structure of systems such as musical language (means of musical expression) and ways of processing folklore sources. The tables and the figure-chart illustrate this aspect. There is a considerable number of different scholarly judgments, perspectives of specialists who have addressed in their research activities the issue of integrating folk instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. However, the problem of integrating folk instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as a holistic and comprehensive phenomenon, requires its own deep and comprehensive research. This fact determines the practical significance of the present study. It also demonstrates the promising nature of scientific knowledge in this field in the future.

Keywords: Chinese piano works, saxophone works, Chinese composers’ vocal music, genres and techniques of composition, principles of realising folk and national origins in professional art.

Introduction

The integration of folk heritage into professional composer’s art, in all schools, traditions and cultures without exception, served as an indicator of the national belonging of certain authorial styles. This also concerns the music of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. By implementing the deep foundations of the folklore of their homeland, they were able to create examples of national classics distinguished by their uniqueness, originality and strong folk-national character. Chinese folklore is expressive and multifaceted. Another noteworthy factor is the phenomenon that its characteristic and content, peculiarities and individual features are determined by the region (area) of the country. Thus, differences emerge between the main types of artistic expression in the samples of folk art belonging to different territorial units (Zhakupov et al., 2020; Nurgali & Kishkenbaeva, 2013). As earlier studies show, there are four regional stylistic branches in China as the main ones: Xinjiang, Shanbei, Guangdong and Sichuan (Shuyun, 2020).

Each of them is distinctive and unique, with an inner complexity that has a direct impact on the sound of the works created under the conditions of the professional Chinese school of composition. “The Xinjiang style” is related to the musical culture of the Uighurs and Kazakhs. It is characterised by frequent tempo changes, an abundance of syncopated rhythms and repetition of intonation cells in melodic structures. The thematically leading melody is usually preceded by richly ornamented improvisational introduction “sanban” (Shuyun, 2020; Nurgali et al., 2021).

“The Shanbei style” is characterised by epic narrative, variation in meter, variability in harmony, the construction of melodies from the summation of an even number of phrases and the predominance of intonations in which a perfect fourth interval plays a fundamental role (Shuyun, 2020). The characteristics of “the Guangdong style” are such features as the predominance of lyrical and pastoral images, the construction of melodies following the principle of singing the basic tone, the absence of broad intervals in the intonation structure of musical themes and the abundance of ornamental patterns (Shuyun, 2020). “The Sichuan style” synthesises the elements of Han Chinese and Tibetan cultures. The characteristics of the style are rooted in the characteristics of Sichuan melodies, based on an alternation of perfect fourths and minor thirds (Shuyun, 2020).

On the basis of the aforementioned characteristics of Chinese folk music styles, composers have the opportunity to implement in their works a wide range of ideas, images, moods, harmonies, intonation and rhythms, as well as to create different genres of professional music in the academic sphere. Chinese composers in the period of the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries embodied the traditions of each of the named regions according to their individual styles. This has proved to be a testament to the depth, colourfulness, versatility and national originality of one of the oldest musical cultures in the Asia-Pacific region (Nurgali et al., 2013; Sabadash et al., 2020). At the same time, there are a number of categories that unite the works of Chinese composers, implementing their ideas in different stylistic and technological spheres. This study reveals each of them and also characterises them according to their intrinsic content. The role and functional significance of these components of the author’s work is highlighted.

Finally, a general picture of the process of integrating folk instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries is demonstrated. This is possible thanks to a clear definition of the most important elements that make up the structure of composition as an integrated system, as well as by identifying universal and classical principles generally accepted in the composing practice, the transformation of folklore sources by authors. They define the uniqueness of such a phenomenon as the Chinese school of composition of the 20th and 21st centuries in the context of world, particularly musical, culture. The relevance and future prospects of studying this problem are also evident, since the practice of composition-making implies a continuous renewal of the intonation and technological funds that constitute its basis.

Materials and methods

The creativity of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries is a vast field, providing almost unlimited scope of material. Its value, originality, uniqueness and authenticity lie in the subtle and profound reflection of folk and national origins in professional music of an academic character. It is necessary to reveal the principles and mechanisms of embodying the leading elements of centuries-old Chinese folklore in the context of the author’s works. It is of fundamental importance to explore the issue of clearly defining the components that make up a coherent system of composing works. The author’s objective in this study is, on the one hand, to identify the categories of Chinese folk art that are reflected in the composers’ works and, on the other hand, to analyse the ways these categories are embodied and implemented through the composers’ individual processing of these categories in their own compositions.

The integration of folk instrumental traditions into the works of Chinese composers occurs through the incorporation into the author’s projects of such folklore categories as: harmony and intonation structure; meter-rhythm; texture; genre; instrumentation and manner of performance. They become the logo, the symbol of the culture of each individual nationality. In order to investigate the processes of interpreting folk art sources in 20th- and 21st-century composer music, the materials dedicated to each of the above categories were collected and analysed in detail.

Thus, the harmony-intonation nature of Chinese music, based on the tone row, which is a pentatonic scale (anhemitonic or ahemitonic), has been examined in detail. According to the research, they constitute a more complex system of a higher order: the yun-gong-diao. The metre-rhythm of Chinese national culture is analytically covered as well, since this aspect is directly linked to the artistic traditions of the country’s individual regions. It became necessary to establish the fact that the “Xinjiang style” mentioned earlier is represented, on the one hand – by the frequent change of tempos, and on the other hand – by the abundance of syncopated rhythms, while the variation of the metre is typical for the “Shanbei style”.

The study also examined the field of folk instrumental art, such as the timbre system, the traditions of its use and combination in ensemble and orchestral formations, as well as the performance techniques using Chinese national instruments, as they were adapted by the professional academic school in the context of the modern composing style of China of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is also necessary to master a number of genres of academic professional music that have emerged in the works of Chinese composers, as the leading branches of national folklore – song and dance have transformed into transcriptions of different scales and became the basis of such composition forms as plays, variations, sonata and concerto.

The study of the ways in which folklore sources are processed has also proved to be one of the leading areas of the present study. Thus, the adaptation of rich folk-national material for European instruments (timbre transformations and modifications in the processing of folklore) as well as – interpretation techniques, recreating the characteristics of folk-national performance using instruments introduced into Chinese art practice from Europe, have been investigated. The genre transformation of Chinese folk music in the academic music of the 20th and 21st centuries, which was influenced by the creation of European-type classical compositions, was discussed in detail.

The harmonious-harmonic and structural-metrical systems of folk instrumental art were analysed, since through their convergence with the fundamental principles of European tonality and laws of formation, organic and deeply professional synthesis of the basic structures in these major poles of musical culture enabled the production of works that turned out to be classical examples of world music of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Results

As the author’s collection of materials, their analysis and classification show, the process of integrating folk-instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries involves: exploring and studying in depth examples of Chinese folk art from different provinces and regions; recording folklore samples using the latest engineering equipment; composers’ focus on particular categories of folk instrumental art (harmony; rhythm; texture; genre; instrumentation); ways of arranging folk sources; the emergence of new genres of professional composition (concertos, suites, sonatas, variations and concert pieces).

Table 1 lists the most important elements of musical language through which Chinese composers were able to implement the phenomenon of transposing the traditions of popular instrumental art into the academic sphere.

Table 1. Categories of musical language as the basic components of a coherent system of composition

Category name	Category meaning
Harmony (harmony and intonation)	Reflecting the nature and character of the sound of the national scale, in this case – pentatonic scale and its later modifications
Meter – rhythm	Reflecting the nature and character of the pulsation, the alternation of up-beats and down-beats typical of Chinese musical folklore
Instrumentation (timbre range)	Reflecting the nature and character of the colouring of the sound field formed in folk Chinese music
Performance techniques	A means of achieving the most expressive effects in the process of interpretation, through an arsenal of technical playing methods developed in performing practice
Genres and forms	Reflecting the artistic and semantic essence of folk art samples, by demonstrating their semantic aspects in the context of clear compositional structures that have developed over the centuries

Table 2 provides a list of the means of the 20th and 21st century academic tradition in Chinese music by which the integration of folklore into professional art takes place.

Table 2. Means of integrating folk instrumental art into the art of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries

The stages of mastering folk art	Characteristics of folk-art learning processes
Collecting folklore	Scientific expeditions to various cities and regions of China, as well as video conferences and online source collection, aimed at comprehending the picture of folk art and defining its types, according to the characteristic features inherent in its samples
Recording folk melodies	Creation and use of the necessary engineering equipment to enable the preservation on electronic media of authentic versions of folk instrumental performance
Decrypting the materials	Creation of a textual (visual) version of folklore samples
Source processing	The actual creation of an author’s composition on the basis of folk melodies, where the primary source undergoes varying degrees of transformation, often turning into a new genre

The process of collecting, recording and decrypting folklore has gradually expanded and improved due to the upgrading of material (transport, communication and engineering) base. Its profound modernisation has opened up almost unlimited possibilities for specialists in the study of folk and, in particular, instrumental art of China. In terms of composition, however, a truly creative individual artistic expression emerges in the processing of sources drawn from the centuries-long tradition of Chinese music-making. This fact prompts consideration of the principles of folklore interpretation separately and, to a certain extent, in more detail. Each of them is characterised by its own content and quality of primary source transformation. Thus, one of the most common examples of processing folk melodies is their arrangement for instruments of the European academic tradition, in which the intonation and rhythmic structure of folklore samples is fully preserved (Dautova et al., 2017; Tatenov & Askarova, 2014b).

A more complex and, inspired by the author’s creative approach, more sophisticated method of processing national sources is transcription. It involves enriching the source material with timbre findings and virtuoso performance techniques typical of global professional music practice. This principle of transforming folklore materials and, at the same time, the genre of composition became popular in the 1960s-70s in the works of Wang Lisan, Wang Jianzhong and Chu Wanhua. It contributed to the formation of a vast arsenal of means, reflecting intonation and rhythmic structure of Chinese national music (Wa, 2015).

Then (late 1970s-1980s) the principle of working with thematic material of Chinese folk art, such as its implementation in major genres of European musical culture, became widespread. The harmonious, intonational and rhythmic foundations of folklore are being adapted to such structures as sonata, variations and concerto. The stage under consideration for the integration of folk art into the composer’s art contributed to the authors’ individuality and creative freedom in the choice of genres, forms and themes. This, in turn, has enabled China’s national school of composition to expand its possibilities and become open to a wider audience around the world (Wa, 2015).

The processing of Chinese folklore has also affected the sphere of style adaptation. Thus, the primary sources of folk, particularly instrumental art, were given a new life in the leading styles of academic Western European music: baroque (“Prelude and Toccata”, “Impromptu” by Chu Wanhua; polyphonic piano works: Prelude “Plot from Bach”, “Two two-voice inventions”, three fugues in strict style by Huang Ji), romanticism (Piano Concerto “Huanghe” by Yin Chengzong, Chu Wanhua, Liu Zhuang), impressionism (Tan Dun – “Eight Memories in Watercolour” op. 1, 1978; Wang Lisan – “Paintings by Higashiyama Kaii”, 1979; Chu Wanhua – Six Preludes, 1961-1977), expressionism (“Wukui” by Zhou Long, 1983, based on the fusion of authentic folk-dance tunes and the atonality of the New Vienna School; Second sonata by Chu Wanhua, 2006).

The underlying basis for the transformation of Chinese folk, in particular instrumental art, in the context of professional academic music is the application of classical composition techniques that have developed in European artistic culture over a number of centuries. These components include: the tonal-functional system (the sound scales of the two major harmonies of European classical music – major and minor, as well as the chord (harmony) of thirds structure, which has a clearly defined function in the overall structure); the extended 12-tone system (atonality, dodecaphony, serialism). The flexible, deeply organic and highly professional adaptation of the harmony and intonation system in Chinese folk music to the above systems created the image of contemporary compositional creativity which has become the heritage of world music art.

The integration of national instrumental music into the art of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries is also expressed in such a fundamental aspect of the problem as the transformation of the sound characteristic features of Chinese folk instruments and their playing techniques into the conditions of the classical European orchestra and its separate units (piano, saxophone and others). A large proportion of Chinese piano music is based on the imitation of a variety of national wind instruments. For example, the imitation of various playing techniques of the xiao-chang yin (trill) and the yin (grace notes) – present in the piano pieces by Zhu Wanhua, “Singing zheng and xiao” (1961) and “Xiangxiaogu” (1975) by Li Ying-Hai. The techniques of playing di-chan yin (trill), li yin (quick, short glissando), da yin and do yin (up and down grace notes), tu yin (repetition), hua yin (portamento) – refracted in the piano pieces “Piccolo flute of the shepherd” (1934) by He Lutin, “The music of the Chinese flute in northern Hubei province” from the cycle “Six concert etudes” (1973) by Zhao Xiaosheng, and “Scarlet peonies in bloom” (1973) by Wang Jianzhong. Imitations of such soprano techniques as yin (grace notes), chanyin (trill), zheng yin (repetition), huashe yin (literally translated – “snarling tongue”), po yin (mordent) can be heard in various fragments of the piano piece “A Hundred Birds Paying Respect to the Phoenix” (1973) by Wang Jianzhong, and other works. Characteristic intonation moves typical of sheng playing are recognisable in the texture of the piano pieces in Jiang Zusin’s suite “Fair by the Temple” (1955) (Wang Ying, 2009).

An important feature of Chinese composers’ piano works is the implementation of certain playing techniques on national stringed instruments. For example, the imitation of such erhu playing techniques as hua yin (portamento) and chisp zou (legato) are used in Zhu Wanhua’s arrangement of “The Moon Reflected in the Erzuan River” (1972). The most used techniques for performing on the banhu, which are also displayed in piano music, are several varieties and yin (grace note). Zhu Wanhua’s piano piece “Liberated Days” (1964) imitates the yin. The basic techniques of playing the guqin include sang yin (pinching the natural string not pressed with the finger), an yin (pressing the string with the finger to change the pitch while playing the melodic line), zou yin (sliding the fingers quickly over the string) and fan yin (string harmonic) are also present in the texture of several Chinese piano pieces. They are the pieces “Xiangxiaogu” (1975) and “Yangguangsande” (1978) by Li Yinghai, “Three times the mums flowers bloom” (1973) by Wang Jianzhong and the Piano Concerto “Echo of Liao” (1993) by Zhao Xiaosheng (Wang Ying, 2009).

The performing range of pipa playing techniques is exceptionally wide and includes tan (plucking a string to the left with the tip of the right forefinger nail), tiao (raising a string with the tip of the right thumb nail to the right), gou (the principle, just like tiao, buut to the left), mo (slow, smooth plucking of a string), yao (rapid tremolo on a single string), sao (rapid plucking of three or four strings with the forefinger of the right hand from right to left), fu (the same as sao but from left to right), and many other techniques. The following pianistic techniques from Li Yinghai’s “Xiangxiaogu” can be considered as piano transcriptions of some of the pipa playing techniques: repetition and tremolo imitating yao, lightning-fast glissando imitating sao and fu, sharp staccato resembling vigorous pinching of tan, tiao, gou (Wang Ying, 2009).

“Illustrations” of zheng playing techniques are present in many piano works by Chinese composers, such as the third part of Ying Chengzong’s Piano Concerto “Yellow River” (1969), the pieces “Singing zheng and xiao” (1961) and Zhu Wanghua’s “Embroidery of an Inscription on a Golden Canvas” (1973), Wang Jianzhong’s “Liuyang River” (1972). In these opuses, the zheng sound is imitated by arpeggiato as well as glissandied passages. Imitations of the sound of the yangqin can be heard in Wang Jianzhong’s piece “Embroidery of an Inscription on a Golden Canvas” (1973), Chei Pegisuish’s piece “Thunder in Arid Weather” (1954), and a number of other piano works (Wang Ying, 2009).

The specificity of Chinese piano art, along with the implementation of the performing techniques of wind and string instruments, is also highlighted by numerous examples of imitating the sound of percussion instruments in piano works. The piano’s texture acquires a special colouring in this case. Thus, powerful chords, wide range, and the presence of several layers imitate the striking of the bells in the fragments of Wang Lisan’s piece “Noise of the Waves” from the suite “Paintings by Higashiyama Kaii” (1979). Ding Shande’s piano opus “A Morning Breeze Blows” (1945) imitates the sonorous, sharp timbre of the bo (cymbals) with certain rhythmic intonation solutions. The quarto-quinta sonorities and rhythmical formulas inherent in music for percussion with a particular pitch are reproduced in the piece by Qu Wei, “Dance with the Drum” (1946) – it also includes heavy yunlo (gong) beats. Many qualities of the percussion instruments – the aforementioned quarto-quinta and octave harmonies, as well as the overall joyful atmosphere of “chime” – reflected in a piano piece “Thought of Spring” (1959) by Chen Peixun (Wang Ying, 2009).

Figure 1 illustrates the integration of folklore origins into the professional academic tradition of the present period.

Figure 1. Integration of folk instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries

Thus, the process of collecting, analysing and systematising the materials on folk, particularly instrumental, art integrated into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries provides a picture that reveals this problem in all its volume, versatility and complexity, according to the number of components that comprise it.

Discussion

The researchers have developed an extensive body of research material on the topic of this study. Each of them worked on a particular area of the phenomenon in question. Issues of improvisation in the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries (through the example of Chu Wanhua) is the subject of Chui Wah’s dissertation. The musicologist analyses Wanhua’s piano transcriptions of themes from instrumental music (“Reflection of the Moon in the Spring”, “The Crimson River”) which offer the pianist great opportunities through a variety of performing techniques, in particular ornamentation, polyphony and also the concerto-romantic style. The range of genres the composer favoured is also revealed: etudes, preludes, barcarolles, capriccio and larger concert forms using modern writing techniques. It also covers the traditions of classical European academic music styles to which Chu Wanhua turned and the type of harmonic thinking (second vertical) that is characteristic of his works (Wa, 2015).

Wang Ying’s dissertation deeply and comprehensively explores the principles of the implementation of national traditions in the piano music of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Thus, the orientation of the academic professional school authors towards samples of instrumental works, in particular folk dance tunes is revealed: “Taiwan Dance” (1936) by Jiang Wenye, “Xinjiang Dance No. 1” (1950), “Xinjiang Dance No. 2” (1955) by Ding Shande, “Three Dances” cycle (1951) by Ma Si Cong, “Dunlang Dance with Brass Drum” (1977) by Lu Huabai, “Lotus Dance” cycle (1979) by Qiu Wei, “Wukui” (1983) by Zhou Lung, “Do-e” (1984) by Chen Yi and many other works that combine the national component with such European composition techniques as atonality and dodecaphony. Examples of imitating the playing of national Chinese instruments (almost all groups) in piano literature are studied: play “Singing Zheng and Xiao” (1961) by Zhu Wanhua, play “Piccolo Flute of a Shepherd” (1934) by He Lutin, play “Music of Chinese Flute in the North of Hubzu Province” (1973) by Zhao Xiaosheng, play “A Hundred Birds Paying Respect to the Phoenix” and “Scarlet Peonies in Bloom” (1973) by Wang Jianzhong, the suite “Fair by the Temple” (1955) by Jiang Zusin, the plays “Liberated Days” (1964) and “The Moon Reflected in the Erzuan River” (1972) by Zhu Wanhua, “Yangguangsande” and “Xiangxiaogu” by Li Yinghai and “Embroidery of an Inscription on a Golden Canvas” (1973) by Wang Jianzhong (Wang Ying, 2009).

The technical and acoustic characteristics of Chinese folk instruments used and realised their potential in the music of Xu Changjun (“Sword Dance” for luqin solo, “Phoenix” concerto for yangqin and orchestra, Capriccio concerto for huqin and orchestra of Chinese folk instruments) are covered in Yan Jianan’s publication. According to the researcher, they have a direct impact on the harmonious intonation, harmonic and faceting components of Changjun’s works (Jianan, 2020).

The involvement of the latest engineering technologies in the creation of music by contemporary Chinese composers, in particular the Seq2Seq model (for creating multi-track Chinese popular songs), is described by a group of scientists from China (Zheng et al., 2017b). The process of creating algorithms in composition design is analysed in one of the publications by Chinese specialists. In particular, a hybrid PSO model is described, where source music material is created using artificial intelligence, followed by its development using evolutionary operators in GA and the final form of the piece emerges (Zheng et al., 2017a; Tatenov & Askarova, 2014a).

The role of the European symphony orchestra’s wind instruments, particularly the saxophone, for contemporary Chinese composers is also defined. Thus, its popularity and widespread use in the country is indicated. With regard to this fact, the activities of musician Fan Shengzi, who created arrangements of Chinese songs such as “Butterflies in Love” and “Moonlight Round Dance Asi”, “Pastoral”, “Flowing Waters”, “Ussuri Boat” (in the blues style) and “Song from Imenshan” (based on Shengzi’s work “Love for Nature”) are highlighted. He greatly enriched well-known folk melodies by including improvisational and variation sections in his transcriptions. There is also discussion of works by composer Huang Anlun who composed a major work for saxophone and Chinese folk orchestra entitled “Chinese Rhapsody” (1988), in which elements of Chinese folk music are widely used: pentatonic scale, special methods of melodic development, combined with the traditions of Western compositional techniques (Maine, 2012).

Stepanova (2020) discusses in her work the relationship between the development of saxophone playing skills and the emergence of national performing schools on this basis, and this applies to the Chinese tradition as well. Music for saxophone made in the Asia-Pacific region (notably in Thailand) takes its shape in a series of different versions, one of which is the performance of the traditional Isan vocal form, molam, accompanied by saxophone as an accompaniment instrument, to which synth, electric organ, drums and electric guitar can be added if the composers wish. The various techniques of this style and the characteristics of the development of the musical material are highlighted (Seeyo, 2021).

Peng Cheng explores the harmony system of Chinese music and the principles of its implementation in the works of composers of the 20th and 21st centuries in his dissertation. Thus, he analyses the process of forming the Chinese national harmony system yun-gong-diao and its modernisation, through a deep synthesis with the European tonal-functional system, as well as with 20th century composition techniques, which leads to the emergence of “harmony dodecaphony” (Khaybullina et al., 2020). The specialist compares the chord structure of the major-minor and national Chinese systems. The latter, in contrast to the laws of the tertian vertical line formed in the music of Europe, represents the consonances formed by pentatonic material (major second, minor and major thirds, perfect fourth and fifth, minor and major sixth, minor seventh, up to the formation of pentatonic “clusters”). The study provides examples of using second-quint chords (“pipa chords”), second-third chords and quart chords (based on the chu-tetrachord) (Cheng, 2011).

The birth of the piano transcription genre as a reflection of the process of integrating folk art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries is evidenced by the work (dissertation) of Qiu Wah. Chen Shuyun covers the main stylistic trends in piano music of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries in his work. He reveals the reflection, based on Chinese national culture, of such trends in European academic art as romanticism (acquiring new traits by becoming an “Eastern branch” of this stylistic tradition), impressionism and neo-folklorism (Aimukhambet et al., 2017). The researcher also shares valuable observations and conclusions concerning the characteristics and distinctive features of national regional styles: Xinjiang, Shanbei, Guangdong, and Sichuan. The scholar finds their vivid elements in the works of Guo Zhihong – “Xinjiang Dance”, Song Yiqiang – “Spring Dance”, Ding Shande – “Xinjiang Dance No.1” (“xinjiang Style”); Wang Lisan – “Lan Huhua”, Ye Lusheng – “The Story of Lan Huhua”, Zhou Guangren – Variations on a Theme of a Shanbei Folk Song, Chu Wanhua – “Sky of Liberated Areas” (“shanbei style”); Wang Jianzhong – “Clouds Catching up with the Moon” and Chen Peixun – “Autumn Moon Over a Quiet Lake” (“guangdong style”); Huang Huwei – suite “Paintings of Bashu”, Li Yinghai – “Rapeseed Blossom”, “When the Huaihua Flower Blossoms” and Chu Wanghua – “Love Song of Canding” (“sichuan style”).

The study of Chinese folk art in the context of the latest digital software is also actively taking place in contemporary research practice, as it promotes the integration of this branch of musical culture into the professional academic art of the present period. In particular, the Layered Stability Detection (LSD) sound segmentation algorithm and systems (HMM-GMM models) for recognising the internal content, character and audio quality of folklore samples in different regions of the country are analysed through experiments (Li et al., 2017). An in-depth comprehension of the styles inherent in the various areas of China is explored, among other things, through the SVM classifier. It combines the ability to read aural samples of folklore with the possibility of conveying the visual characteristics of their internal content (through the use of colour frequency-time maps) (Yang et al., 2018). The systematisation of Chinese folklore, according to its regional affiliation and style, also takes place by means of developments in the field of automatic classification of folk art music samples. For this purpose, the CRF-RBM model, which combines a conditional field (CRF) and the technical arsenal of a Boltzmann machine (RBM) (Li et al., 2019), is put into operation.

One of the achievements of the discipline integrating musical art and engineering was the creation of the MG-VAE audio design generator model, based on the automatic coding element VAE, capable of perceiving and displaying the style of works and actually algorithms for generating new themes from samples of Chinese folk culture (Luo et al., 2019).

The study of the ethics, theory and practice of instrumental music in southern China is the subject of Hui’s work. He defines xizhu as the category representing a chamber ensemble made up of stringed and wind instruments, as well as a regional tradition in the Yangtze Delta region of eastern China known as Jiangnan xizhu. The scholar argues from the point of view of traditional Chinese music scholar Alan Thrasher that there are four leading ensemble styles developed in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. Analysing musical forms and styles, as well as – the numerological order according to which the repertoire is constructed, the nature of the phrasing and scale of the ensemble, the harmony basis – pentatonics, and the ideology of yi yang, Thrasher concludes that these components are imbued with ideals associated with Confucian culture (Hui, 2014; Begalinova et al., 2020).

Mezentseva discusses the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries in the context of intercultural dialogue of the Asia-Pacific region countries in her study. It looks in detail at the artistic traditions of indigenous peoples and the East Slavic migratory culture of the Russian Far East, as well as – countries of the Asia-Pacific region outside Russia. The author interprets the role of music and computer technologies in musical culture and education in the Far East of Russia and China, as the most important component of interaction in the field of academic music, focuses on the problems of informatization of modern musical education, and concludes on the unique experience of composition in China based on the traditional music of the Russian Far East (Mukhitov et al., 2020; Varii et al., 2020). The pentatonic basis of the Chinese harmony system, close to the modal organisation of the music of Far Eastern ethnic groups, which is also the basis of the musical folklore of Russian Far Eastern composers, stands out in particular. The author sees this as the basis for the interaction of cultures in the Far Eastern region, which is recognised as an important aspect from the perspective of creating a holistic multicultural space based on the principles of humanism (Aleksandrova et al., 2018; Mezentseva, 2021).

A cultural phenomenon in the history of art and, in particular, Chinese music, such as synesthesia, which combines local opera, poetry, painting and garden design, is also explored in the publications of scholars. They emphasise the mentality of the country’s inhabitants, where the leading force is intuition, a factor of enlightened thought attained in the process of meditation and contemplation. A roadmap for the study of synaesthesia in Chinese art has also been presented by specialists (Xiong et al., 2015). The study of researcher Chen describes the founding father of such a branch of Chinese professional academic music as instrumental art – Huang Tzu. He pays particular attention to analysing the incorporation of the principles of European professional traditions into national art. In particular, he cites the following works by Tzu: the symphonic overture “In memoriam”, the orchestral piece “Fairytale City”, the polyphonic piano works – Prelude “The Story from Bach”, “Two two-voice inventions” and three fugues in a formal style. The specialist calls for a deeper and more comprehensive study of the composer’s heritage by domestic musicologists (Chen, 2019).

The works of Chinese composers of the “Realism Era”, which extends from 1949 to 1976, is the central theme of Dai Yu’s dissertation. He analyses such aspects of the activities performed by representatives of the academic professional music field as the development of major European-type genres and forms (the symphony), the implementation of programming principles in instrumental works, and the realisation of characteristic playing techniques on folk instruments and their combination with symphonic orchestral instruments. The scholar also notes that composers address the traditional temporal organisation of musical material – the even two- and four-barreled banshi metres, the free aperiodic “sanban” style of improvisational type, and forms of rondo varieties, which are favourites in Chinese folk music. In terms of tendencies and techniques of composition, phenomena such as avant-garde, minimalism and methods of creating compositions such as pointillism and repetition in a short time were tested by the composers of the “period of openness”, expressing themselves in original results with a unique Chinese character (Romaniuk, 2021). The analyst encourages the discovery of aspects of the national music associated with harmonies smaller in sound scale than the pentatonic, and the exploration of ritual genres of Chinese folklore (Yu, 2017).

The problem of creation and functioning in the 20th century and in contemporary Chinese culture of a new type of traditional instrument orchestras, as well as the large-scale genre of academic music – symphony, is actively studied (Yan, 2018). In his dissertation, Yan Jianan explains the principles of the implementation of national traditions in professional composing art (on the example of Xu Changjun’s music). He brings into focus the process of merging folk origins and contemporary composition techniques (the New Wave movement), reflecting styles such as Stravinsky and Bartók’s neo-folklorism and the avant-garde (with its inherent dodecaphony, aleatoric music, minimalism and use of electronic instruments). A modified version of the intonation structure, chords, and timbre drama of modern compositions is also analysed in detail (Jianan, 2020).

This theme is also explored by Li Yun in his dissertation “Wang Jianzhong’s Piano Works”. He highlights the composer’s genre priorities, his reflection of the traditions of linear thinking as a peculiarity of Chinese folk music (zhongqian), his characteristic style of arranging musical themes, where specific folk ornamentation is used through the melismatics of the piano, melodies based on national harmony system, both in their natural “pure” version and in combination with composition techniques of the 20th-21st centuries. In particular, the researcher reveals the types of Chinese “pentatonic dodecaphony row”. He believes that this aspect serves to resolve the conflict between the atonal quality of dodecaphony and the traditional harmony structure of Chinese national music. This is achieved through the following principles and methods of working with the material: structuring the series; introducing folk harmony into the created series; using traditional folk rhythms in the series; introducing classical tonal elements into the theme (Yun, 2019).

The second half of the 20th century was also marked by an active process of developing folk sources in Chinese composers’ piano music (folk songs and dances, poetry and literature, “gohua” paintings). Despite the pronounced integration of Chinese composer music into the world and European culture in particular, the preservation of the national style and spirit is facilitated by the imitation of the sound of folk instruments, the reliance on folk harmonies, intonations and rhythms (Abdullina & Sun, 2018). However, the overall picture-panorama, which demonstrates the process of integrating folk and, in particular, instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, still remains unexplored. This has prompted the author of this study to collect, examine and systematically analyse the available material in order to investigate the topic in question.

Conclusions

The problem of integrating folk instrumental art into the works of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries is a complex and multifaceted one. It is based on such multi-component spheres as the system of means of musical expression and the complex of technical means of implementing folklore sources in a professional academic field. The analysis of each of the spheres makes it possible to identify their categories, as well as to define and characterise these components. The system of means of musical expression consists of harmony and intonation structure; meter and rhythm; texture; timbres of instruments; methods of sound production; genre; compositional form. The complex of technical means of reflecting national musical samples are represented by: engineering and technical basis for collecting and recording folklore material; its processing in that variant, which is peculiar to individual style of a composer. The embodiment of the art of traditional instrumentalists in the professional academic music of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries resulted in the emergence of such genres of the national musical culture as transcriptions, pieces, etudes, suites, as well as large-scale forms: symphony, concerto for solo instrument with symphony orchestra, rhapsody.

The mastery of Chinese composers and their adherence to deep national traditions manifested itself in the organic, highly professional combination of such polar systems of harmony thinking as pentatonic (reflected in the yun-gong-diao complex) and tonal-functional as well as dodecaphony-serial systems. The unity of these spheres is reflected in both melodic and chord-harmonic aspects. The techniques of playing Chinese folk instruments are finely implemented in music for piano, saxophone, vocal interpretation and other timbres. They are actively incorporated by composers into classical ensembles of the European type and give a quantitatively new sound to the music in general. Thus, the process of integrating folk instrumental music into the professional art of Chinese composers of the 20th and 21st centuries turned out to be profound and fruitful. It has undeniable prospects for implementation in the music of subsequent generations. The phenomenon under consideration also provides inexhaustible ground for the research work of scientists all over the world.

Declaration of Conflict of Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest.

Funding

No funding has been received for the publication of this article. It is published free of any charge.

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The Body Politics of Gendered Subjects in Indonesian Post-Reform Films

East Asia/Film & Media Studies

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Lynda Susana Widya Ayu Fatmawaty¹, Wening Udasmoro² & Ratna Noviani³

¹Doctorate Candidate of Media and Cultural Studies UGM/Lecturer of English Department, Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, Purwokerto, Indonesia. ORCID: 0000-0003-0334-8435. Email: lyndasusana2018@mail.ugm.ac.id

²Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. ORCID: 0000-0002-6166-608X. Email: weningw24@gmail.com

³Media and Cultural Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. ORCID: 0000-0003-4699-9297. Email: ratna.noviani@gmail.com

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 2, April-June, 2022, Pages https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n2.14

First published: June 20, 2022 | Area: East Asia | License: CC BY-NC 4.0

(This article is published under Volume 14, Number 2, 2022)
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Abstract

The phenomenon of power, exercised through the issue of gender and sexuality, is represented in Indonesia along with different regimes. However, the gendered body becomes the target of experienced body politics. Thus, this article aims at investigating the body politics of the gendered subjects as revealed in Indonesian Post-Reform films entitled The Dancer (Sang Penari) and Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku). This study used the narrative method by applying Yuval-Davis’ theory. Through these two films, this paper argues that the intersection of gender and sexuality leads to the othering process of the gendered body through the notion of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Further, the ambivalence construction of motherhood, which essentially deals with femininity, is practised toward the gendered bodies. However, the power relation positions the gendered subjects paradoxically by mystifying their body and also demystifying their existence. This shifting is operated under altered discourse in different regimes. Further, biopower is exercised not only by regulating the body but also by subjugating them through sexual slander. Indeed, it leads them to be demonized as PKI regarding the regime’s agenda in maintaining the Indonesian collective trauma of the 1965 Genocide. However, the gendered subjects define themselves as a subject through their agency by submitting to the master narrative.

Keywords: Body Politic, Gendered Subjects, Sexual Slander, Lengger, Resistance

Introduction: The Body Politic and gendered Subjects

The exercise of power over sexuality and gender has been practised in Indonesia through the various forms of regulation and law enforced on the citizen’s body. Therefore, the body becomes a site. Further, it is in line with Foucault’s study that the body is related to the modern operation of power, in which the body and knowledge are focused mainly. This is what Foucault (1995: 28) coined as the body politics: “a set of material elements and techniques that serves as weapons, relays, communication routes, and supports for the power and knowledge relations that invest human bodies and subjugate them by turning them into objects of knowledge.”

Further, Sassatelli (2012: 348) stated that body politics refers to an understanding of practice toward the body that involves the process of society in regulating and exercising social control over the body. Furthermore, Brown & Gershon (2017: 1) stated that the efforts to subjugate these bodies to certain regimes were carried out systemically, such as through governments’ regulations. This policy is a method of the power to ensure that these bodies will behave in a socially and politically acceptable manner as the government or regime wants to shape their citizens. Therefore, it is plausibly related to Mirzoeff (1995: 55) who defines body politics as a manifestation of justification and rationalization of violence. In the Indonesian context, it can be related to any form of threat against the absolute power of the state that will be labelled as a capital crime. Consequently, violence will be executed against the dissident body. Therefore, body politics involve all the methods of subjugating a body as required by the power to create a docile body.

Interestingly, two films—The Dancer (Sang Penari) and Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku)—shared the same narratives on the body politics exercised on gendered subjects. Further, as coined by Fulton et al (2005: 108), examining technical production like camera angles, sound, character, and point of view (focalization) reveals the complexity of signification to understand the notion of the film. Therefore, these films are observed in detail through the close reading technique. The data are taken by capturing the screen on the scenes related to issues of body politics. All the data are then categorized, and the unnecessary data are reduced. The data are analyzed on how the cultural narratives of the regimes in Indonesia ambivalently practice othering the body on the issues of gender and sexuality. In conclusion, the researcher concludes by identifying how the Indonesian ideology of gender and sexuality is exercised toward the gendered body which leads to the othering.

In these two films, the gendered subjects are defined as Ronggeng and Lengger. At this point, it can be highlighted that the intersection of gender and sexuality is the fundamental notion in exercising power. These two films used the bodies of Ronggeng and Lengger dancers to articulate the practice of power over their bodies. However, the intersection of gender and sexuality leads to the othering process of the gendered body through the notion of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). In the Indonesian historical context, PKI reminds the Indonesian collective trauma of the Genocide in 1965. The bloody tragedy involved the mass murder of the people who were labelled as members of the PKI by the army led by Soeharto, which ended in the replacement of the Indonesian President from Soekarno to Soeharto. The labelling regarding sexual slander involves the use of PKI as an instrument of othering. However, there is a shift in the target of othering in Indonesian regimes from women in the Old and New Order eras to the LGBT groups during the Reformation era. The gendered body becomes a site of power contestation related to the discourse of sexuality in those different regimes.

These two films tell the story of Ronggeng and Lengger dancers from different eras. Both the dancers are famous in Banyumas even since Indonesia was under Dutch colonialization. The Dancer (Sang Penari), directed by Ifa Isfansyah in 2011, depicts the Old Order and New Order eras. This film is inspired by Ahmad Tohari’s novel entitled Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk, written during New Order Era. Again, Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku), directed by Garin Nugroho in 2018, reveals the setting of the Reformation era. This film is inspired by the life of Rianto, a Lengger from Banyumas. These two films were produced in the Post Reform era which had a great impact on the freedom of the marginalized group. However, these two films revealed how sexual slander is exercised by labeling gendered bodies as members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Thus, it can be assumed that these two films criticize how the scapegoating of PKI was used for the political agenda in New Order and Reformation Era.

The bodies of Ronggeng and Lengger in both of the films cannot be separated from the context of their terminology, which is closely related to Banyumas’ traditional dancer. In Javanese ancient literature, known as Serat Centhini written by Adipati Anom (5th edition, article (pupuh) number 321-356, Lengger is often referred to as the history of Mas Cebolang who danced and dressed up as a woman. Fatmawaty & Alim (2020: 262) stated that etymologically Lengger comes from the words ?leng” and ?ngger?. Here, leng (hole) symbolizes a woman, and jengger (the crown of a rooster) is used as a male symbol. Hence, Lengger is defined as a traditional dance performed by a male in a female costume or by transvestite. In some parts of the region, Lengger performed by a female is called Ronggeng. However, Lengger and Ronggeng bodies are noticeably gendered regarding their oppressions exercised by a superpower. At this point, Foucault’s concept of bio-power as power originates in power over the body (Foucault in Synnott, 1993: 232) and is manifested in the control over the Ronggeng and Lengger’s bodies.

Through these two films, the shifting gender ideology of different regimes in Indonesia can be identified. Further, it can be underlined that the articulation of gender in the Old Order and New Order eras conforms to a binary gender system, which leads to the dichotomy of masculine-feminine as depicted in the film The Dancer (Sang Penari). Even though this film depicts the binary gender system in the New Order Era, the existence of gender fluidity in the New Order Era actually was revealed around 1970. It was when Jakarta’s Governor Ali Sadikin (1966-1977) introduced waria (the melting words of Wanita/female and Pria/male) to replace the term wadam to give opportunities to the transgender residents of the capital to get the same right to be treated in city services (Murtagh, 2013: 5). Meanwhile, the Reformation era opened more spaces for alternative gender variants as articulated in the film Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku). However, gender fluidity, which also idealizes a binary gender system that intentionally positions the masculine-feminine dichotomy, remains the parameter in gender relations. Further, the gender relations reveal that the embodiment of femininity in the dancer’s body had an implication for the submission of the dancer’s body. Thus, regarding the embodied femininity, the gendered bodies are mystified as well as demystified in different eras.

Mystification and Demystification of the Gendered Subjects in Indonesia

A mystified and demystified body is a manifestation of the gender-related body politics practised in Indonesia. The gendered bodies in these films reveal mystification that positions the dancers’ bodies as a blessing, whereas demystification posits the body as a moral threat. In The Dancer (Sang Penari), the body of female dancers experienced mystification by being considered the mother of collectivity. It is in line with the basic concept coined by Yuval-Davis (1997: 56) that the female figure is usually associated with the mother symbolizing the spirit of collectivity. At this point, the culture positioned a woman’s body as the mother of collectivity in which all hopes and kindness are embodied in her body. However, the dancers’ bodies in the New Order era are demystified as they should fit the prevailing norms. As stated by Lysloff (2002: 4), compared to court dance, lengger or so-called ronggeng by Tohari, represents the earthy, more fleshy sexuality of the potentially available, and even dangerous, women. The dancers are considered available because they are generally viewed as immoral, often becoming sexually involved with some of the male members of the audience. Meanwhile, they are also considered dangerous because their overt sexuality is thought to lead men astray, destroy marriages, and result in fights or sometimes even murder. Furthermore, in Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku), the body of a male Lengger dancer in the Reformation era also experienced mystification, but later was demystified by political groups as a moral threat to society. Juno as gemblak in Murtagh’s category (2013: 6) was similar to traditional or sacred homosexuality from Indonesia like other well-known terms such as bissu and warok. Through an intradiegetic sound, the Regent’s wife stated that “The people next to the river have 60% of the vote, but they demand Juno and his friend should be banished from this village. They say Juno’s group will only destroy the morale of young people. That is the issue” (01:29:35). The dialogue reveals that Juno’s existence was considered a form of moral threat to the youth and also destroyed the nation. As posited by Suryakusuma, homosexuality is often considered a deviant, abnormal, and immoral sexual orientation. (2012: 44) It also legitimizes the views of Indonesians highlighting the homophobic notion that positioned the effeminate body against the natural gender role in the feminine-masculine dichotomy.

In gender relations, women are attached to a burden of representation which places women in an ambivalent position. As in The Dancer (Sang Penari), this ambivalence is also experienced by Srintil, the Ronggeng dancer. This ambivalence reifies her as a subject that represents the spirit of collectivity. On the contrary, it required her to submit to the patriarchal order. As suggested by Yuval-Davis (1997: 57-58), the ambivalence, on the one hand, reifies women by idealizing their bodies as the mothers of the community. But, on the other hand, it also positions women as inferior. However, mothering becomes the mode of subjugation. As revealed in this film, how women’s bodies are mystified and demystified by the power indicates a big narration perpetuating the hidden agenda of dominant masculinity.

Ronggeng dancers in the Old Order era experienced mystification because the existence of Banyumas people’s spirit of collectivity was embodied through the body of Ronggeng. Through intradiegetic sound, it is described how a woman thanks and gives a gift to Srintil for sleeping with her husband. She hopes that Lengger will spread her blessings so that she and her husband will be fertile. This is related to the myth that the Ronggeng body is a symbol of fertility. Whoever succeeds in sleeping with a Ronggeng will be blessed so that the wife will also have the blessing. Ronggeng is a sacred symbol as she embodied the supernatural power of Ronggeng called indang (Tohari in Lysloff, 2002: 7).

Figure 1. A woman waited outside the room while ronggeng slept with her husband as she hoped to be blessed with fertility

However, Ronggeng’s body is also positioned ambivalently in a different socio-political context in the Old Order and the New Order. In The Dancer (Sang Penari), culture remained the dominant discourse in which all the villagers should submit to the rule. It implies that in the Old Order era, the state was not involved in regulating the body of the Ronggeng dancer. Thus, the position of the Ronggeng dancer remained exclusive in society as a reflection of collective idealized femininity. Tohari described a ronggeng dancer as the common property of the village men, playing her role to prevent boredom in the marriage. (in Lysloff, 2002: 7) A Ronggeng dancer is also positioned as sacred because of her mystical power. The existence of Ronggeng as a folk dance was developing in the Old Order era since Indonesia was focusing on the development of a national culture rooted in the folk arts. As explained by Foulcher, folk arts are seen as the cultural expressions of Indonesian people that were originally sources of resistance. (Foulcher, 1987: 85) Therefore, it was maintained and developed to resist the absorption of imperialism. In line with the cultural-political context, President Soekarno strongly encouraged and supported the development of traditional culture. Various efforts were made by Soekarno to explore national culture rooted in traditional culture. (Ismail, 1972: 37) Further, Ardjo stated that Soekarno was a statesman and artist who liked art, especially Indonesian traditional dances. (in Lindsay and Liem, 2012: 401-415) Hence, he strongly supports the development of women’s dance. However, it is not surprising that in the Soekarno era, when laborers and peasants were one of the strengths of the Old Order, folk art also received great support for its development. Under the People’s Cultural Institute (LEKRA), arts rooted in folk culture were developed enormously. Through BKR and under the supervision of LEKRA, several types of folk-themed arts have been developed, such as fishermen dances, farmer dances, and tea picking dances. The development of folk arts in various regions shows how female dancers engage themselves in the public sphere and become symbols of being desirable and idealized, as depicted in Sang Penari (The Dancer) that being a dancer becomes a girl’s dream. In addition, sleeping with a dancer also becomes the people’s ambition, not only for sexual pleasure but also for their pride.

In the New Order era, Ronggeng experienced demystification. As a folk dance that is associated with prostitution, Ronggeng becomes the target as it confronts society’s norms. Yuval-Davis states that the construction of womanhood using cultural codes defines a proper woman, but indeed it still positions women as inferior. (1997: 58) Formerly, the existence of Ronggeng as a folk dance can be related to the position of Banyumas which is outside the Jogja and Solo Court (Keraton Jogja and Solo). Larasati states that in the mid-1960s, the construction of separation and differentiation of court and non-court cultures re-emphasized traditional social values ??such as aristocracy to be elegant, and rooted in aristocratic culture. (2013: 65) Further, Lysloff states that the court dance symbolizes ideal beauty and femininity, and even obedience in the New Order era. (2002: 14) This underlines the shift in the symbol of ideal femininity through dancers’ bodies from the Old Order era to the New Order era. Ronggeng is no longer idealized because the sensuality of the female body is considered a threat to the nation’s morality.

On the other hand, a different mode of mystification is experienced by the Lengger dancer. An effeminate male Lengger dancer experiences more complicated issues regarding gender and sexuality problems. As revealed in the film Memories of My Body (2018), the mystification positions the Lengger body to bring luck, but not regarding the mothering body. His body is mystified to disclose its relationship with the mythical shaman. In one scene, it is described how Juno was ordered by the wife of the Regent to serve the Regent. The scene was revealed with a mystical song from Banyumas, Sulasih-Sulandana. In fact, this song is believed to summon an angel to spread the blessings through Lengger’s body. The mystification becomes the requirement for the Regent to win the Regional Head Election (PILKADA). Thus, it can be seen how the position of the Lengger is placed below, in which the lens of the camera point to the Regent as the owner of greater authority than the Lengger dancer with the Javanese singer (sinden) who is sitting at the bottom. This scene represents the positioning of the Lengger dancer as the mystified body and also a dominating body.

Figure 2. Juno’s mystification as a complement to the offerings in the election winnings ritual.

In its journey, the body of the Lengger dancer in the Reformation era then experienced demystification because it was an open site to build a stigma on the fluidity of gender and sexuality. Indeed, the demystification positioned the body of a male Lengger dancer as no longer sacred or not an ideal figure in society’s fantasy as experienced by Ronggeng. Ronggeng was ubiquitously present in some political rallies such as PKI or PNI. It highlighted the notion of their mystification for being commodified as a magnet for drawing a huge crowd. Larasati stated that in the context of 1965, the power of female dancers and singers, in particular, was able to attract the attention of the masses in various performances. (2013: 6) Furthermore, the existence of dancers in political rallies remains essential even in this Reformation era. It is fascinating that through the character of Juno (the Lengger), the gender and sexuality complexities of a male dancer are presented in this film. Juno, whose name was taken from Arjuna, symbolized a figure of dualistic nature of feminine and masculine. As stated by Anderson that Arjuna, taken from a figure in the Indian epic Mahabharata, is believed to be conventionally combining male and female characteristics. (in Heryanto, 2008: 66) Arjuna’s character, who has a dualistic nature, seemed to be manifested in the Lengger dancer’s body. In the intradiegetic sound or the dialogue between Juno and Pak Atmo, it was stated that Wahyu Juno’s full name, wahyuning arjuno, means a calm stature like water and magnificent like a mountain (dedege ning-ning koyo banyu, neng-neng anteng manteng koyo gunung). This dialogue implied the dualistic character of Juno as a certain hope for being halus (refined) as well as having superior power to defeat. Once, Arjuna was also described as a symbol of virility and invincibility because of his spiritual powers derived from self-control and ascesis (Wieringa, 2014: 447). Further, Arjuna was also a womanizer just like Juno (the lengger), who was also effeminated as depicted in this film. Hence, this representation basically legalizes Lengger’s body in articulating subordinate gender and his gender relations with the other figures.

The shifting of mystification into demystification had a great influence on how body politics is exercised toward gendered subjects. However, they subsequently experienced the exclusionary mechanism as they were labelled as members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). PKI, as part of Indonesian collective trauma in relation to the 1965 Genocide, has always become a haunting memory for Indonesian society. Just after Soeharto took power in 1965-1966, anything related to PKI will always be regarded as a threat. As stated by Larasati, anyone who is involved either directly or indirectly with the PKI is considered a subversive act and part of a political crime. (2013: 37) Both films reveal how the gendered bodies of Lengger and Ronggeng are labelled as PKI and the new style of PKI. On the one hand, Srintil as Ronggeng is labelled as PKI as her body is considered to be a threat to the nation. Indeed, she was performing in PKI’s rallies; but, the narratives of the film depict that she is not a member of PKI as she performed for her economic needs. On the other hand, Juno, as a homosexual, is labelled as a threat to the morale of the nation. Therefore, it can be interpreted that sexual slander on the body of Ronggeng dancer by assaulting her as a PKI member is a form of control mechanism to subjugate the gendered body. Indonesian Women’s Organization (Gerwani) and LGBTQ as a group with sexual perverse are seen as threats to the nation. Communist phobia and homophobia reproduced simultaneously see Gerwani and LGBTQ through ‘pornographic gaze’ (S. Wieringa & Katjasungkana, 2019: 114-118). Thus, the state then took a big role in determining attitudes toward sexuality. The state also uses several institutions such as family, the court system, the police, and the community. Therefore, it had also a relation to PKI with Gerwani and the new style of PKI. Henceforth, it is highlighted by the government that it would be safer for people to avoid being labelled as PKI since the consequence will be extremely horrifying.

The artist’s closeness to the accusation of being part of the PKI has been going on for a long time. Further, Larasati (2013) states that many dances can cause their death because of the accusations of being part of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). This closeness is presumed to be originated from the issue of folk dances as a form of gratitude at the harvest festival so that various folk arts are considered to be able to gather masses. The New Order, which identified this as a threat, took steps to control artists with the threat of being stigmatized as PKI. This association is indeed related to how the New Order regime maintained the collective memory of the Indonesian nation by deliberately reviving the PKI as a haunting specter. The sexual slander of being a PKI has caused deep trauma for Indonesian people regarding the social sanctions of being isolated and alienated. The PKI and all its affiliated organizations were associated as inhuman, barbaric, and evil. This association raises the notion that being part of the PKI or being associated with the PKI was a fatal mistake that led to the curse of justification, torture, or murder of PKI members. (S. Wieringa & Katjasungkana, 2019: 114-118) Therefore, the 1965 discourse that reappeared in the Reformation era was essentially aimed at causing trauma and spreading fear in the community. The collective memory of this trauma is well preserved to haunt any action that challenges authoritative power.

Resistance of Gendered Subjects

The body politics practised on the gendered bodies creates resistance toward domination. As revealed in these two films, the various negotiations of the two dancers are efforts to affirm their existence as a subject by submitting to the dominant discourse. Srintil in The Dancer (Sang Penari) empowers her position as a subject in her relation to Rasus. Meanwhile, Juno in Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku) reveals the same ideas in his relationship with Warok. De Lauretis (1990: 132) states that resistance and resistance strategies can be understood as having two objectives, seeking equal status or radically opposing “men”. However, the resistance of these gendered subjects emphasizes more on seeking equal status. By submitting to the dominant discourse, the resistance is specifically aimed as a form of subversion toward the order.

Both Ronggeng and Lengger bodies have agency precisely when they submit to the dominant discourse that surrounds them. Leahy stated that the agency of the female subject is intentionally used to express her resistance to patriarchal objectification. (in Morrissey, 2013: 310) As revealed in The Dancer (Sang Penari), the Ronggeng’s body is positioned as an arena for cultural domination to play the tradition of net opening (buka klambu). Her resistance toward culture is done by breaking the culture as the culture required an auction for her virginity. Therefore, she intentionally has sex with her lover before her virginity is auctioned in the tradition of net opening. As revealed in this film, through homodiegetic narration, Srintil takes the role of a subject by refusing Rasus’ request to stop as Ronggeng in their discussion. She said “Sus, ronggeng is my world. A form of devotion for Dukuh Paruk.” At this point, she has a bargaining position to be a ronggeng dancer. Therefore, equality creates an agency as the subject does what she wants.

In different regimes, Ronggeng and Lengger were categorized into different classes as revealed in these two films. In the film The Dancer (Sang Penari), Srintil is depicted as an artist who receives special privileges because her position is higher than other women’s. It happened in the Old Order era when the culture supported it much. Being Ronggeng means increasing her status to be more respected. It is still clear in the memories of the villagers of Dukuh Paruk how her parents were seen as the actor behind the bongkrek poisoning tragedy. Hence, Srintil is able to negotiate her status to recover the good name of her family. She also realizes that being Ronggeng gives her the luxury of being a local celebrity. While Alexander (2011: 373), who also uses Yuval-Davis’ (2008) theory, stated that by labelling as the mother of the nation, women are categorized in the second class, I highlighted that in some and certain cases, it is different. This film shows that it is still possible to position women in the first class just like a Ronggeng in the Old Order Era. Although at the same time she is also aware that she cannot escape from patriarchal rules, the society affirms her existence as a Ronggeng and hails her as a local artist. People in the village even compete to give her prizes such as vegetables, fruit, and crops. However, the entrance of Ronggeng into the political economy of party rallies such as PKI or PNI in the Old Order Era reveals an ambivalence position. Even though she affirms her agency to be the chosen dancer, in fact, she still has to submit to all the rules of the dominant discourse.

The different atmosphere was created differently for the male dancer (Lengger). In Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku), almost all scenes show how the effeminate body of Lengger is marginalized and far from being appreciated by society. Juno’s life journey as a Lengger in this film is always exposed as a marginal class group. Even this film was so controversial that it was rejected by some community leaders and mass organizations in certain regions for being aired since it was suspected of campaigning for homosexuality. This condition reveals how certain attitudes toward gender have become more and more conservative since the Reformation era. However, the resistance was done to challenge the Regent’s power. The power contestation between Warok and the Regent positions Juno’s body as an arena. In relation to Warok, Juno becomes gemblak. Gemblak is a male dancer who dresses up as a female or is known as transvestites. According to the Reyog legend in the Cebolang story, the hero disguised as a gemblak is the son of a kyai. The myths in Ponorogo about gemblak expose that there is a magical power gained by Warok in its relationship with gemblak. Wilson states that gemblak is a domestic Warok partner and has a sexual relationship with Warok. (in Murtagh, 2013: 67) They are known for their courage, art, and magical powers. As gemblak, Juno defined himself as a subject who had an agency. Even though being gemblak meant that he would also be dominated by a Warok, at least he was free from the domination of the Regent to be his gay partner. Juno also had a guarantee of safety from the Warok because he was considered the property of Warok. Reyog and gemblak, as a traditional dance from Ponorogo East Java, has a strong relation with mysticism. Kartomi (1976: 86-87) explains that Ponorogo Reyog art has characteristics related to mysticism, sexuality, humor, and politics. Warok may indeed be physically strong, but he is also a powerful man with his magic. Thus, the relationship between Warok and gemblak indicates how the societies perceive negatively toward their sexual relationship. Perverse sexuality was considered to be the essential notion of morality in the Reformation Era.

Conclusion

This study highlights that the articulation of gender ideology of the regimes in Indonesia underlines the notion of a binary gender system. These two post-reform films reveal that the shifting regimes construct the gender relation differently. While gender relations in the Old Order and New Order eras were depicted in the relationship between men and women, the Reformation era revealed the relations between masculinities and other masculinities. Thus, the Reformation era gives more space for the fluidity of the gender system. However, all of these relationships lead to gender domination which is operated on certain marginalized groups. Further, as culture played an important role as the main power in the Old Order era, norms and morality became the reference standard in the New Order and Reformation era. However, the ambivalence construction of motherhood, which essentially deals with femininity, is practised toward the gendered bodies. Furthermore, the power relation positioned the gendered bodies paradoxically by mystifying their body and demystifying their existence. This shifting is operated under altered discourse in different Indonesian regimes.

In addition, the sexual slander experienced by the gender bodies describes how the control mechanism is exercised that leads to othering. The haunting collective memory of PKI highlighted how the spread of fear is intentionally organized to subjugate society. Undoubtedly, the phenomenon of the body politic that is practised against the gendered body has a great impact on gender oppression and even leads to sexual oppression.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest.

Funding
No funding has been received for the publication of this article. It is published free of any charge.

References

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Boellstorff, Thomas. (2005). The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia. Princeton: Princeton University Press

Brown, N., & Gershon, S. A. (2017). Body politics. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 5(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2016.1276022

de Lauretis, T. (1990). Eccentric Subjects: Feminist Theory and Historical Consciousness. Feminist Studies, 16(1), 115. https://doi.org/10.2307/3177959

Fatmawaty, L. S. W. A., & Alim, C. N. (2020). Virtual Sphere: A Site to Negotiate the Image of Lengger Banyumas. Lingua Cultura, 14(2), 261–266. https://doi.org/10.21512/LC.V14I2.6837

Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage book.

Foulcher, K. (1987). Politics and Literature in Independent Indonesia: The View from the Left. In Source: Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science (Vol. 15, Issue 1).

Fulton, H. et al. (2005). Narrative and media. UK: Cambridge University Press.

Heryanto, A. (2008). Popular Culture in Indonesia: Fluid identities in post-authoritarian politics (A. Heryanto (ed.)). London: Routledge.

Ismail, Y. (1972). Pertumbuhan, Perkembangan, Dan Kejatuhan Lekra Di Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Kartomi, M. J. (1976). Performance, Music and Meaning of Réyog Ponorogo. Indonesia, 22, 84. https://doi.org/10.2307/3350979

Larasati, R. D. (2013). The dance that makes you vanish?: cultural reconstruction in postgenocide Indonesia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Lindsay, Jennifer, and Liem, M. H. T. (2012). Heirs to world culture. Netherlands: KITLV Press.

Lysloff, R. T. A. (2002). Rural Javanese “tradition” and erotic subversion: Female dance performance in Banyumas (Central Java). Asian Music, 33(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.2307/834230

Mirzoeff, N. (1995). Bodyscape?: art, modernity, and the ideal figure. New York: Routledge.

Morrissey, J. (2013). Objectification and resistance: Dance performances in Abdellatif Kechiche’s la Graine et le mulet (2007) and Vénus noire (2010). French Cultural Studies, 24(3), 306–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957155813489248

Murtagh, B. (2013). gender and sexualities in Indonesian cinema. New York: Routledge.

Sassatelli, R. (2012). Body Politics. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology, 347–359. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444355093.CH31

Suryakusuma, J. (2012). Agama, Seks, & Kekuasaan. Depok: komunitas Bambu.

Synnott, A. (1993). The body social?: symbolism, self, and society. London: Routledge.

Wieringa, S. E. (2014). Sexual Politics As a Justification for Mass Murder in the Act of Killing. Critical Asian Studies, 46(1), 195–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2014.863595

Wieringa, S., & Katjasungkana, N. (2019). Propaganda and the genocide in Indonesia?: imagined evil. New York: Routledge.

Yuval-Davis, N. (1997). Gender & nation. London: Sage Publications.

Filmology

The Dancer (Sang Penari). 2011. Ifa Isfansyah

Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku). 2018. Garin Nugroho

The Poetics of Fei Ming: How the Classical Merged with the Modernist

East Asia/V14N12022

378 views

[wp-svg-icons icon=”user” wrap=”i”] Candy Fan Wang [wp-svg-icons icon=”envelop” wrap=”i”]

Foreign Languages College, Shanghai Normal University, China

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, January-March, 2022, Pages 1–11. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.02

Abstract received: 29 March 2021 | Complete article received: 8 June 2021 | Revised article received: 22 Sept 2021 | Accepted: 2 Dec 2021 | First Published: 05 February 2022Published: February 5, 202

(This article is published under the Themed Issue Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Literary and Cultural Studies)
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The Poetics of Fei Ming: How the Classical Merged with the Modernist

Abstract

Fei Ming (1901-1969) is an iconic fictionist who had mastered the fusion of Chinese classical literary images with Western modernist writing techniques, a glaring label overshadowing his accomplishments in poetry. This paper looks at Fei Ming’s footprint in poetry within the context of the reforming and modernizing process of Chinese poetry in the first half of the 20th century. It offers a particular angle of viewing Fei Ming’s undervalued poetic aesthetics, in which he seamlessly reconciled the confrontational forces vacillating the development of Chinese poetry, namely, traditional form versus modern form and Chinese style versus Western style. Specifically, he blended modern philosophy with traditional lyricism to create natural flows of beauty and imbedded the Western symbolist and imagist techniques in forming a unique Chinese poetry style without compromising the sense of coherence. His proposal that new poetry should embrace a poetic “mind” with a prose-like “body” has shaped the making of Chinese modern poetry in its time of need. His equal treatment of the poetic elements of Chinese tradition and Western modern manifests a new interpretation of modernist poetry, a different mentality to approach modernism, and further a distinct paradigm of global modernisms, alternative to the Anglo-American ones.

Keywords: Fei Ming, modern Chinese poetry, poetic theory, global modernisms.

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Introduction to Antiquarian Chinese Book Collections in Contemporary Macao

East Asia/V14N12022

281 views

[wp-svg-icons icon=”user” wrap=”i”] Chon Chit TANG ^{[wp-svg-icons icon=”envelop” wrap=”i”]}

University of Macau, China.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, January-March, 2022, Pages 1–5. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.06

Abstract received: 31 March 2021 | Complete article received: 6 June 2021 | Accepted: 30 August 2021 | First Published: 05 February 2022

(This article is published under the Themed Issue Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Literary and Cultural Studies)
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Introduction to Antiquarian Chinese Book Collections in Contemporary Macao

Abstract

This essay briefly discusses the historical development of the society of Macao, the book collection systems and categories adopted within Macao, major characteristics of antiquarian Chinese books in Macao, and their relationship with the culture of Macao.

Keywords: antiquarian Chinese book collections, social culture, Macao

Translingual, Transcultural, and Transboundary Sceneries: Aesthetic Ideas and Discursive Practice in Yu Dafu’s Landscape Writing

East Asia/V14N12022

315 views

[wp-svg-icons icon=”user” wrap=”i”] Yidan Wang ^{[wp-svg-icons icon=”envelop” wrap=”i”]}

Duke University

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, January-March, 2022, Pages 1–17. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.05

Abstract received: 31 March 2021 | Complete article received: 2 June 2021 | Revised article received: 5 Dec 2021 | Accepted: 16 Dec 2021 | First Published: 05 February 2022

(This article is published under the Themed Issue Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Literary and Cultural Studies)
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Translingual, Transcultural, and Transboundary Sceneries: Aesthetic Ideas and Discursive Practice in Yu Dafu’s Landscape Writing

Abstract

The ways in which nature is watched and represented have changed rapidly alongside modernization in 20th-century China. This can be regarded as the product of an epistemological transformation led by the encounter of Chinese and Western cultures. One of the representatives in this transformation and fusion of seeing is Yu Dafu, who, although generally known for his fiction, penned many travel writings and descriptions of nature in the 1930s. Regarding Yu’s travelogue as an embodiment of his translingual and transcultural reflections, this paper reviews previous studies on Yu’s travelogue and investigates its latent creativity and antinomy. This article delves into the stylistic and aesthetic features of Yu’s travelogue to uncover the conservatism and misogyny obscured beneath the seemingly value-neutral landscapes, arguing that Yu’s travelogue is a twofold amalgamation of genres and aesthetics. On the one hand, his travel writing is an adaption and combination of the German Baedeker guidebooks and traditional Chinese travel notes (Youji ??). On the other hand, Yu’s texts incorporate aesthetic criteria influenced by different natural concepts, demonstrating both his broad vision ahead of time and his conservatism. Yu’s writing on nature and landscapes, as a discursive practice motivated by the emergence of tourism in his era, is a transboundary dialogue between literature and commerce, and the elite and the general public, while also implicitly denying the common people access to the scenery space. Through a close reading of Yu’s frequently employed tropes—picturesque and feminized scenes—I establish an isomorphic relationship between his views on nature, art, and female. Finally, the antinomy inherent in Yu’s landscape imaginary constructed by creativity and conservatism points to the ambiguity of the New Culture.

Keywords: modern Chinese literature, landscape, space, travel writing, cross-cultural communication.

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Foreignized Translation of Onomatopoeia in The Last Lover

East Asia/V14N12022

338 views

[wp-svg-icons icon=”users” wrap=”i”] Minhui Xu ^{[wp-svg-icons icon=”envelop” wrap=”i”]}& Tingting Chen

Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Macau, China.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, January-March, 2022, Pages 1–12. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.04

Abstract received: 3 March 2021 | Complete article received: 19 June 2021 | Revised article received: 1 Sept 2021 | Accepted: 9 Sept 2021 | First Published: 05 February 2022

(This article is published under the Themed Issue Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Literary and Cultural Studies)
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Foreignized Translation of Onomatopoeia in The Last Lover

Abstract

The onomatopoeia in literary works frequently provokes translation problems and no consensus has been reached by translators. This study aims to explore the translation of onomatopoeia between Chinese and English, two drastically different languages, with a case of the translation of Can Xue’s novel The Last Lover by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen. A detailed textual analysis has detected three major translation strategies: italicized transliteration, italicized transliteration plus target equivalents, and italicized transliteration plus explanation, with the second one occupying a lion’s share. All the strategies demonstrate obvious efforts of foreignizing the translated onomatopoeia and produce a strengthened foreign effect. The facts that The Last Lover won the Best Translated Book in 2015 and that the statistics suggest a positive readers’ response show that onomatopoeia, non-arbitrary across languages, has its potential to be transferred successfully between languages and cultures. A foreignizing translation strategy makes it possible for the sound effects of the onomatopoeia of the original to be preserved and for the target readers to experience something foreign, while its acceptance suggests the increased tolerance for translated literary works in the target system.

Keywords: Translation of onomatopoeia, Can Xue, Foreignization.

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Precarity and Performativity in Post-Fordist Japanese Workplace: A Reading of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman

East Asia/V14N12022

624 views

[wp-svg-icons icon=”user” wrap=”i”] Jaseel P ^{[wp-svg-icons icon=”envelop” wrap=”i”]}& Rashmi Gaur

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, January-March, 2022, Pages 1–11. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.03

Abstract received: 31 March 2021 | Complete article received: 2 June 2021 | Revised article received: 5 Dec 2021 | Accepted: 16 Dec 2021 | First Published: 05 February 2022

(This article is published under the Themed Issue Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Literary and Cultural Studies)
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Precarity and Performativity in Post-Fordist Japanese Workplace: A Reading of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman

Abstract

The socio-economic phenomenon of post-Fordism strengthened the growing Japanese economy since the 1970s. However, the economic recession in the 1990s led to the birth of the precariat in Japan. A country known for permanent employment and long-term stability was replaced by policies that enabled a new class of temporary workers. These vulnerable part-time employees, also called freeters, are victims of anxiety and social pressure. They led a life of insecurity and hopelessness. This ontological vulnerability prevalent in modern workplaces has profound repercussions on gender relations and identity formation and attempts to resist and expose these hegemonic powers shape the central theme in Sayaka Murata’s deadpan comedy Convenience Store Woman (2018). The protagonist Keiko, a freeter herself, struggles to live up to the societal expectations of marriage, motherhood, and a stable career. The workspace, which the protagonist of the novel considers as her safest place despite being a forcibly normalised environment, could not hold its illusion of stability for long as it becomes a precarious space of crisis. Precarity experienced under post-Fordist capitalism forces institutionalised forms of recognition where the performances of identities are regulated and constructed to ensure survival. The textuality of the workspace in the novel parallels the world outside of it, making the convenience store a microcosm for the capitalist world after globalisation. With Judith Butler’s studies on gender performativity and precariousness, and textual analysis of the novel, the authors of this paper study how anxiety-ridden precarious living conditions can also become a foundation for alternative performances troubling gender categories, thereby transcending the narrow social scripts rooted in exclusion and inequality.

Keywords: Precariousness, Gender Performativity, Japan, Post-Fordist Capitalism, Resistance.

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Experiencing and Writing East Asian (Post)modernity

East Asia/Editorial/V14N12022

772 views

Yue Zhang

Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Humanities; Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 14, Issue 1, January-March, 2022, Pages 1–4. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v14n1.00

Published: February 5, 202

(This editorial is published under the Themed Issue Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Literary and Cultural Studies)
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Experiencing and Writing East Asian (Post)modernity

Experiencing and Writing East Asian (Post)modernity

The articles on China and Japan in this special issue deal with modernity and postmodernity as exemplified by modern Chinese writers, such as Yu Dafu (1896–1945) and Fei Ming (1901–1967); contemporary Chinese and Japanese writers, such as Can Xue and Sayaka Murata; and the connections between modern life and antiquarian book collections in Macau. These articles, hailing from the different perspectives provided by history, philosophy, and translation studies, collectively contribute to our understanding of the literary manifestation, reflection, and representation of modernity and postmodernity in twentieth-century China and Japan.

Yidan Wang’s article, “Translingual, Transcultural, and Transboundary Scenes: Aesthetic Ideas and Discursive Practice in Yu Dafu’s Landscape Writing,” examines a representative writer of “New Literature.” Previous research on Yu Dafu has largely focused on Yu’s fiction (Denton 1992: 107-123; Levan 2012: 48-87). Wang’s article switches the focus to Yu’s travel writing and investigates his cross-cultural understanding of nature and landscape, arguing, “This paper aims to further explore the mechanism with which Yu began these works, selected multiple discourses, cooperated with authorities and commercial powers, and built a new imaginary of nature in modern China.”[i] Yu’s travel writing, such as “A Sentimental Journey,” “The Trifles of a Fuzhou Journey,” and “Travel Notes in Malacca,” integrates Western culture, such as German Baedekers, with Chinese travel literature in a way that highlights lively personal experience and the narration of local lore. Yu’s fusion creates a unique way of depicting beautiful natural scenery that surpasses the pedagogical approach of traditional travel guides.[ii]

A contemporary of Yu Dafu, Fei Ming is the focus of Candy Fan Wang’s article, “The Poesis of Fei Ming: How Does the Classical Merge with the Modernist.” This article investigates the characteristics of modern Chinese writer Fei Ming’s literary writing, focusing on his free verse modern poetry, by placing it in the context of Chinese literature and philosophy and Western symbolism. This cross-cultural comparative approach lends itself to analyzing Fei Ming, who was influenced by both the traditional Chinese culture of Confucian classics, Daoist canons, and Buddhist sutras as well as Western and especially British literature and culture (Liu 2001: 30-71). Concerning how Fei Ming handled this commingled influence, Wang argues, “[Fei Ming’s] ontological approach enabled him to treat classical Chinese poetry without prejudice and diminished the rupture between tradition and modern with the proposal that modern poetry should take the content of poetry and language of prose.” Fei Ming’s new literary concepts and practice made him a representative writer of the Peking Style.

Tingting Chen and Minhui Xu’s article, “Foreignized Translation of Onomatopoeia in The Last Lover” moves us from modern Chinese literature to a contemporary Chinese writer, Can Xue. Chen and Xu categorize the strategies that Annelise Finegan Wasmoen adopted in translating onomatopoeia in Can Xue’s novel The Last Lover. As a way of providing background for Wasmoen’s foreignizing translation strategy, this article defines the term onomatopoeia and introduces different ways of translating onomatopoeia from other languages into English: “italicized transliteration with target onomatopoeia,” “italicized transliteration with explanation,” and “italicized transliteration with context.” For these three approaches, this article investigates the possible reasons for the translator’s choices, focusing on the background of the translator (in particular, her background in comparative literature) and Can Xue’s engagement throughout the entire translation process. This article reveals the collaborative dynamic between the author and the translator: “The uncompromising author and the unwavering translator successfully delivered a difficult but interesting reading for target readers to experience a dreamlike irrational surrealism with the help of the exotic sound effects.” The article supports its major arguments by examining the text itself, several dictionaries, and appropriate peer-reviewed scholarship. Translation plays an important role in promoting contemporary Chinese literature abroad.

With Chon Chit Tang’s article, “Introduction to Antiquarian Chinese Book Collections in Contemporary Macau,” the issue expands beyond mainland Chinese writers to investigate Macau, a cultural hub that has brought together Chinese and European civilization for centuries. Tang’s article outlines the overall socio-political environment of Macau and then investigates the trajectory of antiquarian Chinese books in the context of Macau culture: their categorizations, preservation history, and contemporary usage and significance. The previous scholarship usually focuses on rare books in mainland China, but this article investigates the overlooked topic of antiquarian Chinese book collections in Macau and their interactions with contemporary Macau society. Government bureaus, educational institutions, religious sites, and individual bibliophiles have collected and preserved these antiquarian books. Based on his many years’ academic experience with antiquarian Chinese books in Macau and mainland China, Tang states, “The study of Macau’s antiquarian books will require an in-depth examination of the antiquarian books available to the public, including their editions, collations, prefaces and postscripts, the situations in which they were circulated, and so on. We should not only focus on enhancing the protection of antiquarian books but also learn to utilize and develop these resources.” The development of digital humanities methods, the publication of studies of antiquarian books, and consistent support from the government of Macau will lead to further investigations of antiquarian Chinese book collections in Macau. These collections will become a window into Macau’s rich local culture, a local culture with international heritage.

From China and Macau, we turn to contemporary Japanese literature with Jaseel P and Rashmi Gaur’s article, “Precarity and Performativity in Post-Fordist Japanese Workplace: A Reading of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman.” This article adopts Judith Butler’s theories of gender to interpret the Akutagawa Prize-winning novel. In specific, the authors examine “how anxiety-ridden precarious living conditions can also become a foundation for alternative performances troubling gender categories, thereby transcending the narrow social scripts rooted in exclusion and inequality.” This article engages existing scholarship on Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman, such as that of Ayako Kano, Machiko Osawa, Barbara E. Thornbury, and Bryony White. A symbol of postmodernity, the convenience store epitomizes the fast rhythm of capitalist Japanese society. Murata draws on her own work experience in a convenience store to narrate the story and push its development. In order to survive and integrate into this utilitarian society, the leading female character, Keiko Furukura, has to abandon her personality and learn to imitate other people to become part of a homogeneous community. The authors actively apply Butler’s theories to the novel’s plot, providing new insights into the gender and identity issues of Japanese women working in precarity.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Chinese writers actively studied Western technology and culture, and applied it to the task of revolutionizing, restoring, and renovating China. Yu Dafu and Fei Ming both blended Western culture, such as British and German literature, into traditional Chinese ways of depicting nature and articulating one’s voice. They both attempted to improve Chinese literature and make it more lively and interesting with modern narrative methods. Can Xue actively participates in translating her novel into English and experiments with modern translation techniques, which demonstrates the author’s engagement in shaping the reception of contemporary Chinese literature. Just as writers have experimented with different approaches, including those that drew on the past, for experiencing and writing modernity, Macau’s antiquarian books have been digitalized, preserved and integrated into the contemporary life of the city. In postmodern Japan, Murata’s Convenience Store Woman demonstrates how Keiko, a part-time worker in a precarious work situation, deals with anxieties and other people’s expectations. These articles investigate many aspects of Chinese and Japanese literature, spanning multiple forms and genres. The authors, who are from mainland China, Macau, India, and Japan, bring a multidisciplinary approach to bear on modernity and postmodernity in China and Japan. Their different backgrounds contribute to the diversity of this special issue.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Thanks go to my colleague and friend, Jeremy De Chavez, who provided me with this opportunity to co-edit this special issue. My speciality is premodern Chinese literary studies; so for this special issue on modern and contemporary literature, I sincerely appreciate the assistance of the reviewers, who helped me to select the articles through their reports and to improve their overall quality. This is sponsored by my MYRG project (MYRG2020-00018-FAH) at the University of Macau.

Notes

[i] The direct quotes in this introduction all draw from the articles in this special issue, sometimes with slight modification, so the footnotes of these quotes are omitted. The sources for all quotes not from this special issue will be identified through footnotes.

[ii] Yu Dafu is not alone integrating the narration of lore with literary genres. It is a practice that has a long tradition in China. For the treatment of lore and literature in premodern China, see Zhang 2022.

References

Denton, Kirk A. (1992). “The Distant Shore: Nationalism in Yu Dafu’s ‘Sinking’.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, vol. 14.

Levan, Valerie. (2012). “The Meaning of Foreign Text in Yu Dafu’s ‘Sinking’ Collection.” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, vol. 24, no. 1.

Liu, Haoming. (2001). “Fei Ming’s Poetics of Representation: Dream, Fantasy, Illusion, and ?layavijñ?na.” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, vol. 13, no. 2.

Zhang, Yue. 2022. Lore and Verse: Poems on History in Early Medieval China. State University of New York Press.

Yue Zhang is Associate Professor of Chinese Literature and Graduate Programme Coordinator at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Macau, Macau, China.

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16 YEARS OF OPEN ACCESS HUMANITARIAN SCHOLARSHIP

Decoding the imperial “grip” in J.G. Farrell’s The Singapore Grip

Integration of the Traditions of Folk-Instrumental Art into the Works of Chinese Composers of the 20th and 21st Centuries

The Body Politics of Gendered Subjects in Indonesian Post-Reform Films

The Poetics of Fei Ming: How the Classical Merged with the Modernist

Translingual, Transcultural, and Transboundary Sceneries: Aesthetic Ideas and Discursive Practice in Yu Dafu’s Landscape Writing

Foreignized Translation of Onomatopoeia in The Last Lover

Precarity and Performativity in Post-Fordist Japanese Workplace: A Reading of Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman

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Experiencing and Writing East Asian (Post)modernity