The Narrative Arts of Tianjin: Between Music and Language

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Theory & Criticism, Ethnomusicology
Cover of the book The Narrative Arts of Tianjin: Between Music and Language by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson ISBN: 9781351885317
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: December 5, 2016
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
ISBN: 9781351885317
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: December 5, 2016
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

In studying one of the world's oldest and most enduring musical cultures, academics have consistently missed one of the richest forms of Chinese cultural expression: performed narratives. Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson explores the relationships between language and music in the performance of four narrative genres in the city of Tianjin, China, based upon original field research conducted in the People's Republic of China in the mid 1980s and in 1991. The author emphasizes the unique nature of oral performances in China: these genres are both musical and literary and yet are considered to be neither music nor literature. Lawson employs extensive examples of the complex interaction of music and language in each genre, all the while relating those analyses to broader cultural issues and to patterns of social relationships. The narrative arts known as shuochang (speaking-singing) are depicted as genres that constitute a unique communicative discourse”the communication of stories in song. The genres subsumed under the native conception of shuochang include Tianjin Popular Tunes, Beijing Drumsong, Clappertales and Comic Routines. The maximum utilization of shuo (speaking) and chang (singing) in all their varying manifestations constitutes the vitality of the traditional narrative arts in the city of Tianjin”the center for these arts in North China. The variety of narrative forms provides entertainment for audiences representing all social strata of Chinese society. The author argues that Chinese narrative traditions represent a foundation from which certain Chinese literary and operatic traditions have borrowed, such as how the novels from the Ming-Qing period draw on the performed narrative arts both in style and in content. Hence, an understanding of performed narratives is not only useful to scholars in Chinese literature and music, but also to scholars interested in broadening their understanding of China generally.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In studying one of the world's oldest and most enduring musical cultures, academics have consistently missed one of the richest forms of Chinese cultural expression: performed narratives. Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson explores the relationships between language and music in the performance of four narrative genres in the city of Tianjin, China, based upon original field research conducted in the People's Republic of China in the mid 1980s and in 1991. The author emphasizes the unique nature of oral performances in China: these genres are both musical and literary and yet are considered to be neither music nor literature. Lawson employs extensive examples of the complex interaction of music and language in each genre, all the while relating those analyses to broader cultural issues and to patterns of social relationships. The narrative arts known as shuochang (speaking-singing) are depicted as genres that constitute a unique communicative discourse”the communication of stories in song. The genres subsumed under the native conception of shuochang include Tianjin Popular Tunes, Beijing Drumsong, Clappertales and Comic Routines. The maximum utilization of shuo (speaking) and chang (singing) in all their varying manifestations constitutes the vitality of the traditional narrative arts in the city of Tianjin”the center for these arts in North China. The variety of narrative forms provides entertainment for audiences representing all social strata of Chinese society. The author argues that Chinese narrative traditions represent a foundation from which certain Chinese literary and operatic traditions have borrowed, such as how the novels from the Ming-Qing period draw on the performed narrative arts both in style and in content. Hence, an understanding of performed narratives is not only useful to scholars in Chinese literature and music, but also to scholars interested in broadening their understanding of China generally.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Sociology: The Key Concepts by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Typology of Industrialization Processes in the Nineteenth Century by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book The Life Space of the Urban Child by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Spaces for Feeling by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book The Irrational Consumer by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Rethinking Refugees by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Women In Human Evolution by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Aging Men, Masculinities and Modern Medicine by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book The Women of Pliny's Letters by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book An Ethnographic Approach to Peacebuilding by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Traumatic Brain Injury by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book The Management of Uncertainty by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Port Jews by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Curriculum: Product Or Praxis? by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
Cover of the book Creativity in Museum Practice by Francesca R. Sborgi Lawson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy