Resonances of chindon-ya : sounding space and sociality in contemporary Japan / Marié Abe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abe, Marie, author.

Series:

Music/culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chindon-ya.

Music--Social aspects--Japan.

Music.

Street music--Japan--History and criticism.

Street music.

Music in advertising--Japan.

Music in advertising.

Street musicians--Japan.

Street musicians.

Music--Social aspects.

Japan.

Physical Description:

xxv, 252 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Middletown, Connecticut : Wesleyan University Press, [2018]

Summary:

In this first book-length study of chindon-ya, Marie Abe investigates the intersection of sound, public space, and sociality in contemporary Japan. Chindon-ya, dating back to the 1840s, are ostentatiously costumed street musicians who publicize a business by parading through neighborhood streets. Historically not considered music, but part of the everyday soundscape, this vernacular performing art provides a window into shifting notions of musical labor, the politics of everyday listening and sounding, and street music at social protest in Japan. Against the background of long-term economic downturn, growing social precarity, and the visually and sonically saturated urban streets of Japan, this book examines how this seemingly outdated means of advertisement has recently gained traction as an aesthetic, economic, and political practice after decades of inactivity. Resonances of Chindon-ya challenges Western conceptions of listening that have normalized the way we think about the relationship between sound, space, and listening subjects, and advances a growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship that examines the ways social fragmentation is experienced and negotiated in post-industrial societies.

Contents:

1 Walking Histories 36

2 Performing Enticement 64

3 Sounding Imaginative Empathy 94

4 Politicizing Chindon-ya 135

5 Resonances of Silence 165.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Abe, Marie, author. Resonances of chindon-ya

ISBN:

9780819577795

9780819577788

0819577782

0819577790

OCLC:

1008767762

Publisher Number:

99975781822