With Strings Attached: Music, Networked Societies, and Chaozhou Chinese Cultural Identity

FAIN: FT-51557-03

Mercedes M. Dujunco
New York University (New York, NY 10012-1019)

This project involves examining the social dynamics of performances of xianshi, a form of string ensemble music native to the Chaozhou region of Guangdong Province (southeast China), as they take place in various Chaozhou music clubs and native place associations in Bangkok, Thailand. Data will be gathered by means of fieldwork and analyzed in order to determine how performance of this music serves to facilitate the formation of patronage and business networks among members of the Chaozhou diaspora community in Bangkok; how it aids in reaffirming Chaozhou regional identity; and how it has been impacted by the increased movement of people between Thailand and Chaozhou in the Chinese mainland via Hong Kong over the past two decades.