Características de los hogares pobres extremos con microcrédito en el Perú

Even though many scholars have pointed out that using ethnicity or culture as a descriptor for a given type of music might be problematic (Chow, 1998b), particularly in the study of pop music due to the phenomena of glocalisation (Robertson, 2012). The audience’s responses do not merely reflect a simple dichotomy between East and West, but demonstrate rather subtle issues of representation. When speaking about what ‘Hong Kong music is’ and if the China Wind is blowing in Hong Kong, although the audience can name many songs with Chinese elements by Hong Kong singers – such as ‘Little’ by Joey Yung, ‘Sugar Sway’ by Fiona Sit, and ‘Daiyu Smiles’ by Vincy Chan – most of them do not regard China Wind as mainstream.:

Anthony: I do not have a strong feeling towards China Wind music. Maybe it is less

influential in Hong Kong? When I heard it for the first time, I felt ‘It was okay’, and ‘It was special’, but nothing more than that. (Interviewed on 15 November 2015)

ChiKin: I don’t think China Wind is blowing in Hong Kong. Fusion is a key element

to the local music scene in Hong Kong. The Chinese element is just one of the prevailing influences.

Zi-Qian46_{: Culture wise, I do not think Chinese music represents Hong Kong; nor}

does western music represent Hong Kong. They are just musical styles, eventually. I

think it is popular music that represents Hong Kong, although there is probably no such thing as Hong Kong music. (港樂)

Although identity-related questions were discussed in most interviews due to the nature of the study, the Hong Kong interviews suggest a postmodern subject listening to or having a

preference for China Wind music does not mean that they subscribe to a sense of Chineseness imbued in the music. They are not completely loyal to any single type of music or identity. While the Taiwanese interviewees often have a strong love-hate relationship with

Chineseness in China Wind music, most Hong Kong interviewees – while rejecting the political mainland Chineseness of G.E.M.’s music – seem to embrace a cultural Chineseness more easily. One interviewee, Felix47_{, explained to me why he likes China Wind songs,}

demonstrating his appreciation for a long-lost beauty found only in the ancient days that contrast with what we have in modern times:

I like the song ‘Blue and White Porcelain’. I think it is beautiful but I don’t think I can recall what kind of stories are behind ‘Blue and White Porcelain’. There are so many elements in Chinese culture. The reason why I like Jay Chou more than Wang

LeeHom is his songs are way more beautiful. The song ‘Chrysanthemums Terrace (菊 花台)’ has very beautiful imagery set against a Chinese background. I don’t see that in Wang LeeHom’s case… Emotionally speaking, these types of songs resonate with me more [namely China Wind songs]. The songs are both modern and evocative of such strong emotions within me. Probably I just have this attachment to the very poetic and more romantic aspects of Chinese culture, such as the really beautiful love stories in the more ancient China. That kind of beauty and elegance cannot be located in a modern context.

His appreciation and interest in Chinese culture resonates with China Wind music. The songs that he loves seem to become resources for the construction of this particular layer of identity, which is romantic and nostalgic about an imagined, long-lost past. Whether Chinese culture was presented beautifully was irrelevant, if not contradictory, in relation to Chinese

modernity. It could be argued that this layer of identity is itself situated in a postmodern

context, which is rather nationless. Another impression the audience often has regarding Jay Chou’s music is its overwhelming popularity in the Chinese-speaking world:

ChiKin: Jay Chou is like McDonalds. You can see him everywhere, but you don’t

necessarily think the food is of the best quality… We spoke of hegemony in the music market. Does it take opening many stores, like McDonalds, to become hegemonic? Or does it require making great food?

Baihe: Understanding why McDonalds can own so many franchises and become

hegemonic is a great topic. Jay Chou started his career with an independent local label, why can he achieve enormous success? (...). Believe in Music, in Taiwan, was an independent label; it used to be a local tea restaurant, and now it is Tsui Wah Restaurant48_.

ChiKin: Transforming from an independent label into a form of hegemony is a sign of

mobility. We have not had this mobility in Hong Kong yet. (Both interviewed on 8 November 2015)

Zi-Qian49_{: Jay Chou was very popular. When I was in primary school, one of my}

friends called himself Jay and wore red hoodies like Jay Chou did.

Coco50_{: Jay Chou’s image and his music are cool compared to his other contemporary}

artists. When we listened to him, we did not see him as either a Taiwanese or a Chinese singer. I felt we were learning about something else. He was the first person that got me into popular culture. (Interviewed on 13 November 2015)

As discussed in the previous section, the post-1990s audience in Hong Kong grew up at a time when karaoke was one of the youth’s main forms of entertainment while Mandarin instruction in high school also influenced when they first started to pay attention to Mandarin pop music. Jay Chou’s music is not always perceived as ‘Chinese’; it could be ‘cool’,

‘innovative’ and ‘popular’ at the same time. It is so popular that the people who are

committed to helping to improve the local music environment see it as a McDonald’s-esque

48 _{Tsui Wah Restaurant is a Hong Kong tea restaurant that has many branches in Hong Kong, Macau and}

Mainland China. They can be found in the airports and attract tourists.

49 _{Zi-Qian. Interview conducted in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In Mandarin, 19 Nov. 2015.} 50 _{Coco. Interview conducted in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In Mandarin, 13 Nov. 2015.}

hegemony: a major pop star thrived in the Taiwan Mandopop industry during its heyday. His Chineseness is less relevant in Hong Kong. Coco’s description of him as ‘either a Taiwanese or a Chinese singer’ suggests that the key to Jay Chou’s Chineseness is located in the wider world of ‘Cultural China’ (Tu, 1991), composed of various symbolic universes that its members can hardly deny or escape from. The Hong Kong audience, in general, find that the musical Chineseness might not be preferable but at least it is not offensive. The conclusions, section 6.4, will discuss the comparison between Jay Chou and G.E.M.’s respective

Chineseness at greater length.