Social change and nationalism in China's popular songs

This article examines the relationships between social changes, power, authority and musical practices with a special focus on political, social and economic factors in the People's Republic of China (PRC). A national discourse of music has been dominant since the early twentieth century, first with anti-foreign and anti-Japanese songs, second in the context of the revolutionary ideology of the Communist Party in the 1920s-1930s, and again during the Cultural Revolution of 1967-76. The 'open-door' policy of the 1980s and 1990s, and the switch from a planned to a more market-oriented economy began a complex cultural interaction with foreign popular songs. Though contemporary PRC has offered a wide degree of latitude for free musical practice and expression of popular songs, it has also limited the availability of such expression through a system of political and economic arrangements. As nationalism and social movements are contested, popular songs in China, through reflective and generative interpretations within a narrative designed to cultural and political expressions, were used to illustrate connections between myths of national identity, transnational cultural production and politics in society.