書摘1

Transcending Intellectual Boundaries: The Lyrical Phenomena of Fang Wen Shan (excerpt)

Lim Lee Ching

As a cultural and political entity, the Taiwanese story is one whose narrative is constructed by a central paradox—one that is immediately schismatic and simultaneously bound by its relationship with Mainland China. To the extent that even in the realm of domestic, municipal politics, the Taiwanese public consciousness is held in persistent suspension over its relationship with the Mainland—cast as it often is in absolute terms—it might be possible to suggest that a popular cultural gesture has as much potential to unify this collective psyche as to divide it. And, in many ways, the history of Chinese popular music can be seen to perform this strange paradox as an enactment of the history of Taiwan itself.

Of the three primary channels of popular culture, it is popular music that best conveys the identifiable aspects of Chinese culture and acts as a conduit for its diaspora. It can also be kept on a kind of parity with—though not necessarily counter to—the globalized influence of established Western, Anglophone popular culture. The nature of the popular musical form lends itself best to transmission on any scale, especially in an age of digital reproductivity. This involves even appropriating the visual media, such as television, film, music, and karaoke videos, for an even more comprehensive trajectory of transmission. By its form, I mean here the system of construction, compactness, accessibility, (relative) ease of production, and consumption. Since it is reliant on the lyrical form for quick comprehensibility, popular music is in many ways also the most immediately literary among the popular arts—although the level at which such literary appeal engages the consumer can be debatable.

書摘2

Transcending Intellectual Boundaries: The Lyrical Phenomena of Fang Wen Shan (excerpt)

Lim Lee Ching

As a cultural and political entity, the Taiwanese story is one whose narrative is constructed by a central paradox—one that is immediately schismatic and simultaneously bound by its relationship with Mainland China. To the extent that even in the realm of domestic, municipal politics, the Taiwanese public consciousness is held in persistent suspension over its relationship with the Mainland—cast as it often is in absolute terms—it might be possible to suggest that a popular cultural gesture has as much potential to unify this collective psyche as to divide it. And, in many ways, the history of Chinese popular music can be seen to perform this strange paradox as an enactment of the history of Taiwan itself.

Of the three primary channels of popular culture, it is popular music that best conveys the identifiable aspects of Chinese culture and acts as a conduit for its diaspora. It can also be kept on a kind of parity with—though not necessarily counter to—the globalized influence of established Western, Anglophone popular culture. The nature of the popular musical form lends itself best to transmission on any scale, especially in an age of digital reproductivity. This involves even appropriating the visual media, such as television, film, music, and karaoke videos, for an even more comprehensive trajectory of transmission. By its form, I mean here the system of construction, compactness, accessibility, (relative) ease of production, and consumption. Since it is reliant on the lyrical form for quick comprehensibility, popular music is in many ways also the most immediately literary among the popular arts—although the level at which such literary appeal engages the consumer can be debatable.