Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover

Macao has seen an incessant cultural exchange between the East and the West since the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid-sixteenth century. Different types of hybrid cultural and artistic heritage, like music, language, and poetry, have since then been created. However, as reflected by scholars, m...

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Published in:Review of Culture
Main Author: Caspar Ka Yin Chan
Format: Articles
Published: Instituto Cultural de Macau 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40072/4221
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description Macao has seen an incessant cultural exchange between the East and the West since the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid-sixteenth century. Different types of hybrid cultural and artistic heritage, like music, language, and poetry, have since then been created. However, as reflected by scholars, more efforts are yet to be done in documenting the aforementioned artistic development and investigating how the cultural identity of the people of Macao has evolved through history. This paper contributes to study how the memories and identities of specific groups of people residing in Macao are articulated in their music depicting Macao, specifically, through analysing the Chinese songs ‘Song of Seven Sons — Macao’ and ‘Song of Macao’, and the Portuguese pieces ‘Macao, My Land’ and ‘Good-bye, Macao’, as well as using the discourses of music and cultural identity discussed by Simon Frith, Stuart Hall and Homi Bhabha, among others. The selected works concern their uses of language, musicality, and public appearance. Although one group may demonstrate contradictory narratives in terms of identity and beliefs with another, their overall musical expression about themselves and Macao constructs our communal understanding, memory, and recognition of this place. Over time, a change in terms of their narratives of identity and the audience’s reception can also be seen, resulting in a mobile identification, and shifting collective identity of the people.
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spelling Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
Macao has seen an incessant cultural exchange between the East and the West since the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid-sixteenth century. Different types of hybrid cultural and artistic heritage, like music, language, and poetry, have since then been created. However, as reflected by scholars, more efforts are yet to be done in documenting the aforementioned artistic development and investigating how the cultural identity of the people of Macao has evolved through history. This paper contributes to study how the memories and identities of specific groups of people residing in Macao are articulated in their music depicting Macao, specifically, through analysing the Chinese songs ‘Song of Seven Sons — Macao’ and ‘Song of Macao’, and the Portuguese pieces ‘Macao, My Land’ and ‘Good-bye, Macao’, as well as using the discourses of music and cultural identity discussed by Simon Frith, Stuart Hall and Homi Bhabha, among others. The selected works concern their uses of language, musicality, and public appearance. Although one group may demonstrate contradictory narratives in terms of identity and beliefs with another, their overall musical expression about themselves and Macao constructs our communal understanding, memory, and recognition of this place. Over time, a change in terms of their narratives of identity and the audience’s reception can also be seen, resulting in a mobile identification, and shifting collective identity of the people.
Instituto Cultural de Macau
Macau
Review of Culture
Articles
2023
Cultural ambivalence
Cultural identity
Hybridity
Memory.
Musical identity
Narrativity of identity
Caspar Ka Yin Chan
spellingShingle Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
Caspar Ka Yin Chan
Cultural ambivalence
Cultural identity
Hybridity
Memory.
Musical identity
Narrativity of identity
title Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
title_autocomplete Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
title_full Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
title_fullStr Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
title_full_unstemmed Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
title_short Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of Macao before and after Handover
title_sort narrating and contesting cultural identities in music: the case of macao before and after handover
topic Cultural ambivalence
Cultural identity
Hybridity
Memory.
Musical identity
Narrativity of identity
topic_autocomplete Cultural ambivalence
Cultural identity
Hybridity
Memory.
Musical identity
Narrativity of identity
topic_facet Cultural ambivalence
Cultural identity
Hybridity
Memory.
Musical identity
Narrativity of identity
url https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40072/4221
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