Modern Identity And Cultural Representation Of Qin

Shanghai is nourishing and serving as a relatively stable and sustained base for the development of Qin culture, meanwhile, shanghai is the earliest city that already completed its internationalization, once these above two factors be combined, consequently it will influences severely the development of Qin culture and contributes to the innovation of it as well. The case of this paper is about the change of Qin culture with almost 100 years of history in Shanghai. My research will resort to related historical resources and will use my first-hand fieldwork materials as my theoretical arguments, aiming to propose my own point of view through analyzing and interpreting, the theories that support my argument will be Cultural Identity andCultural Representation.It will be proper if study Qin culture, which is of a representative status in Chinese culture, through adopting a holistic perspective, on which a diachronic and synchronic, macro and micro opinion will be used under the context of "preservation of intangible culture heritages". From the beginning of the 20^th century till the foundation of PRC, Qin culture in Shanghai was in a phase of self-development. Confronting big social changes, Qin musicians expressed their cultural identity through a common cultural memory and through maintaining the Qin cultural norms of behavior. Whereas Qin culture did not integrate into the mainstream discourse in the process of modernization of Shanghai, on the contrary, it was excluded from the center and became a peripheral survival as a minor folk music culture. Not until the foundation of PRC did Jinyu Qin society(今虞琴社) receive recognition from and appropriated by the mainstream ideology of socialism, consequently, the cultural identity and social role of Qin musicians that dispersed nationwide changed when they were becoming increasingly involved into the social division of labor in the process of modernization of Shanghai. From the end of 1990s' till now, in order to develop nation culture, Shanghai is in a phase of "globalization" under the influences from the acceleration of world economic and political "globalization". Qin culture that of a rich history has to face western music culture, modern media, cultural heritage, and mass culture in modem economic system, and in that it is suffered cultural impaction and reconstruction. Because of the existence of inherent tension between nationality and modernity, localization and globalization, on one hand, Qin culture in Shanghai nowadays features as multi-forms, extensive medium of dissemination, and close relation with society, whereas on the other hand, it inevitably and increasingly becomes a representation of modernity. In the process of change, many topics about Qin culture such as its function, bearers' role, forms and symbolic meaning, are all related closely to historical discourse and cultural context. Qin obtains its social legitimacy, regains the power of discourse in adaptation to social culture, enters into mainstream domain after integrating western music culture, and together, the mature market mechanism pushes Qin culture to the mass. While there does exist a distinction between modern developments triggered by exterior social factors and traditional Qin culture, whatever its form and cultural meaning. Consequently, in order to gain legitimacy, Qin has to take the corresponding responsibilities, in order to represent new society and new culture, has to face the contradiction from traditional discourse, in order to integrate western music culture, has to be separated from its own tradition, and finally in order to face the mass, it has to be turned into commodity, thus how to confront with the chance and challenge in the context of "globalization" becomes an issue to be discussed in this paper.This paper is consisted of an introduction, five chapters and a conclusion. In introduction I make a brief introduction of the theory, research methods, and key points of this paper. For the first chapter, I interpret the theory of Cultural Identity and some related researches of Qin, described the necessity of Qin research under the theoretical framework of Cultural Identity. For the second chapter I analyze my case from different perspectives such as cultural geography, historical heritage, social environment, and also argument for the typical and validity of my fieldwork that why I took the cultural changes of Qin in Shanghai as my case of study. In Chapter three, I focus on the group of Qin players in Shanghai, analyze their cultural identity, social roles and different cognition of Qin culture in different period, and then reflect the role differentiation and identity crisis of Qin players. Chapter four is about the composition of Qin music, the innovation of score, volume and shape. I point out that the diversity composition practices of Qin music actually reflects the change of social recognition of Qin player groups, as well as an echo of variety of social mighty discourse. Chapter five discusses a variety of opportunities and contradictions that emerges in the cultural practice of Qin recent years, mainly from the perspective of mass culture, public culture and "globalization". I'm trying to reveal the complex process of transformation and reorganization by a wide range of contemporary discourse of Qin. Finally, in conclusion, I also discuss the issue of the preservation of intangible culture heritages and its practical significance from the perspective of my case study of Qin.The development and change of Qin culture in Shanghai within the latest hundred years is actually a microcosm of contemporary history of Chinese Qin as a whole. Therefore, we have to put this case into the background of cultural transformation in Chinese society during the latest hundred years. This paper attempts to propose my arguments: the Cultural Identity of groups of Qin players is profoundly impacted by the mainstream discourse of different times, the modern social division and culture stratification lead to the modern transition of their traditional roles, and also result in the contradictions between the traditional identity and the modern discourse; in the process of change, the traditional interpretation of Qin culture is changed to modernity, social context is increasingly becoming key element that affects culture behavior of Qin; "Globalization" , including culture heritage and culture consumption, becomes a tendency. Tensions between tradition and modernity, local and foreign factors contribute to an open pattern of Qin cultural identity, chances and challenges in the course of change of Qin culture shape the multi-identities of present Qin musicians.