| Jiangnan sizhu is an instrumental ensemble tradition from the Yangtze delta region of central-eastern China. In the ensembles, musicians play both wind instruments made of bamboo (zhu) and those traditionally made with silk (si) strings. Through subjectivist ethnographic accounts and musical transcriptions, this study addresses (1) the creative social and musical disjunctures in the Jiangnan sizhu tradition, and (2) the hegemonic interactions that are reflected and reproduced in the improvised musical performances of the traditional style. Through the lens of Deleuze's simulacrum, the fissures and disjunctures of the tradition are explored.; This research presents comparative analysis of Jiangnan sizhu music and social structures in four cultural spaces: (1) the traditional teahouses and recreation centres of mainland China, (2) the conservatories of mainland China, (3) the diasporic Chinese communities of North America, and (4) select Canadian universities. The impacts of political economy on the musical and social traditions of Jiangnan sizhu are examined both in mainland China and in North America.; The music of Jiangnan sizhu is based on a single melodic line that is realized, in the traditional style, through improvised simplification ( jianzi) and melodic extemporization (jiahua) to create a heterophonic line. In its ideal setting, the music aims to achieve balance texturally, dynamically, timbrally, and socially.; However, as a result of the analysis undertaken herein, I conclude that numerous fissures in the normative structures of Jiangnan sizhu create spaces for change and flux in the socio-musical traditions of the genre. These include shifts in the age, ethnicity, and gender demographics of performers in the ensembles; functionality of the music; economic aims of musicians; sites for performance both nationally and internationally; regionalist connections to the genre; connection to Taoist-influenced ideals of balance; and the emphasis on spontaneity and improvisation. This work contributes to the field of ethnomusicology as a study of the creative aspects of change in socio-musical traditions, as a site for the exploration of socio-musical hegemony, and as a foundation for the study of improvisation in the Asian musical context. |
