Course syllabus

Welcome to ANTHRO 329: Music of East Asia

Course Convener

Dr. Sunhee Koo  |  s.koo@auckland.ac.nz  |  HSB 817  |  Office Hours: Mon  11:00 - 12:00; Tues 11:30 - 13:30; Fri 11:00 - 12:00 

Lectures                                Lecture/Discussion

Tuesday 09:00 - 11:00                          Thursday 09:00 - 10:00              
810-225                                                                 104-G54

GTA:

John Jang, hjan700@aucklanduni.ac.nz; Kooshna Gupta, kgup987@aucklanduni.ac.nz

Course Overview

What is the music of East Asia? What does its music tell us about the region and its people? East Asia is a geo-cultural unit including countries that have historically shared some ideological and cultural features. Mainly referring to China, Korea and Japan, East Asian countries have interacted with one another and have been exchanging influences on other cultures not only within but also outside the region including other parts of Asia, the Middle East and as far as Europe and North America. Viewing music as a social and cultural manifestation, this course investigates how East Asian countries have been transformed in this and past centuries from both local and global perspectives; what social backdrops and variables have affected the particular shaping of places and identities in East Asia; and what frame of reference music presents us to better understand its societies and cultures? Various case studies drawn on the range of East Asian musical genres will help students to gain insights into distinctive constructions of individual local identities by means of cultivating each country’s own indigenous cultures in relation to the discursive changes brought by the rapid process of globalisation. At the same time the course will contemplate the ways in which a collective cultural identity, generally referred to as “East Asian”, is constructed, perceived, contested and negotiated.

Course Assessment

Attendance & Participation      10%
Five Reading Reviews             40%
Final Take-Home Exam           50%

Lecture Schedule

1

17, 19 July

Introduction: Musics of East Asia

2

24, 26 July  

Elegant Music (China, Korea, and Japan)

3

31 Jul, 02 Aug

Secular Music: Music for Elites vs. Music for Commoners 

Reading Review 1 Due on Tues 7 Aug

4

07, 09 Aug, 

To be Modern: Changes inJiangnan Sizhu as the Case in Point

5

14, 16 Aug

Social Reform and Modernization: New Adaptation and Cultural Progressiveness

Reading Review 2 Due on Tues 21 Aug

6

21, 23 Aug

Understanding and Connecting to North Korea 

27 Aug -

07 Sep  

Mid-Semester Break

7

11, 13 Sep

Popular Music in East Asia 1

Cross Cultural Music: East meets West and National Imagination(Japan): Memory, Nostalgia and National Imagination

Reading Review 3 Due on Tues 18 Sept

8

18, 20 Sep

Popular Music in East Asia 2: Not so Long ago: Popular music in China

9

25, 27 Sep

Popular Music in East Asia 3: Global Pop and Localization

Reading Review 4 Due on Tues 02 Oct

10

02, 04 Oct

Guest Lecture by Prof Gregory Booth (TBA)

11

09, 11 Oct

Gender and Theatre: Ideal Men and Surreal Gender

Reading Review 5 Due on Tues 16 Oct

12

16 Oct

Review, Evaluation and Distribution of Final Take-Home Exam

Final Take-Home Exam Due on Friday 26 Oct

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due