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Noise in G uangzhou: the cultural politics of underground popular music in contemporary G uangzhou
Author(s) -
Liu Chen
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/area.12102
Subject(s) - popular music , lyrics , mainstream , ideology , rock music , politics , aesthetics , power (physics) , popular culture , sociology , literature , art , visual arts , media studies , political science , law , physics , quantum mechanics
Popular music in G uangzhou can be considered as a noise that applies social and political power to challenge the mainstream aesthetics and ideologies, rather than a low culture that lacks aesthetics. The main purpose of this article is to examine the cultural politics of underground popular music in contemporary G uangzhou, drawing on the analysis of its lyrical and sonic meanings through three genres: campus rock/pop, C anton‐rock and urban folk songs. Different types of underground popular music in G uangzhou engender different spaces/places through the lyrical and sonic power, and map out the non‐commercial popular music in south C hina. These findings not only respond to the previous music geographical studies on lyrics and sounds/voices, but also extend the research areas of C hinese popular music.