This course will discuss ‘East Asia’ through music as composed, performed, recorded, processed, remembered, imagined, and represented. Questions to be asked include: what kinds of sound are recognized as music in East Asia? What are the goals and effects of music? When, where, and how is music performed in East Asia? How is music described in East Asian literature and visual art? How does music translate East Asian literature and visual art? How are certain musical elements—tonality, rhythm, genre, instruments—recognized as ‘East Asian’? How is East Asia imagined musically? How are East Asian composers and performers received globally? As an artistic motif, Shan Shui travels between past and present and across various mediums as well as literary and artistic genres. What exactly are we invited to see and contemplate on in the Shan Shui? Are Shan Shui works about “nature,” spirit, Qi, or the human world? The course seeks to inquire into these and other questions through examining the concepts, arts, and transformations of selected Shan Shui works in imperial and contemporary China. Course focus may include the cultural histories of food, fashion, tourism, sports, or forms of audio and visual media. (No prior knowledge of East Asian languages or cultures is necessary.)
This course will discuss ‘East Asia’ through music as composed, performed, recorded, processed, remembered, imagined, and represented. Questions to be asked include: what kinds of sound are recognized as music in East Asia? What are the goals and effects of music? When, where, and how is music performed in East Asia? How is music described in East Asian literature and visual art? How does music translate East Asian literature and visual art? How are certain musical elements—tonality, rhythm, genre, instruments—recognized as ‘East Asian’? How is East Asia imagined musically? How are East Asian composers and performers received globally? As an artistic motif, Shan Shui travels between past and present and across various mediums as well as literary and artistic genres. What exactly are we invited to see and contemplate on in the Shan Shui? Are Shan Shui works about “nature,” spirit, Qi, or the human world? The course seeks to inquire into these and other questions through examining the concepts, arts, and transformations of selected Shan Shui works in imperial and contemporary China. Course focus may include the cultural histories of food, fashion, tourism, sports, or forms of audio and visual media. (No prior knowledge of East Asian languages or cultures is necessary.)
