Two Generations of Contemporary Chinese Folk Ballad Minyao 1994-2017: Emergence, Mobility, and Marginal Middle Class

Abstract

This thesis explores two generations of contemporary Chinese minyao music (xiaoyuan minyao, 1994-1996 and xin minyao, 2005-2017). Originally, the term minyao was used in imperial China to refer to a type of folk entertainment, which focused on rhyming verbal expressions. But in a post-socialist context, minyao is now known as a genre of commercial popular music featuring western folk music and poetic Chinese lyrics. Over two generations, musical themes of minyao shifted from a focus on nostalgia and gentle romance to poetic self-expression and brutal criticisms of social issues. Accordingly, the tastes of minyao audiences shifted as well. By examining those shifts and China’s urbanization and population mobility, I argue that the second (current) generation of minyao audience draws from the marginal middle class, who see contemporary Chinese minyao as a symbol of good taste. I further argue that the second generation of minyao artists and audiences build their “sonic township” (O'Toole 2014; Kim 2016; Wang 2018) by singing and listening to minyao together in “live house” music clubs. The live house, as a sonic performing space, musically articulates the audience’s home origins and regional identities. The music of this “sonic township” is characterized by 1) the notion of wen as a civilized, refined, literary and feminine sophistication; and 2) a “feminine” style of singing (Moskowitz 2010; Baranovitch 2013). These two traditional qualities help define the aesthetics of minyao and its reception among audiences in current China. This thesis also attempts to combine aspects of gender and social class to discuss the regional identity and cultural attachments of contemporary minyao as a genre of popular music.