Popular Music, Cultural Politics and Music Education in China

WhileattentionhasbeenpaidtovariousaspectsofmusiceducationinChina,todatenosinglepublicationhassystematicallyaddressedthecomplexinterplayofsociopoliticaltransformationsunderlyingthedevelopmentofpopularmusicandmusiceducationinthemultilevelcultureofChina.BeforetheimplementationofthenewcurriculumreformsinChinaatthebeginningofthetwenty-firstcentury,therewasneitherChinesenorWesternpopularmusicintextbookmaterials.PopularculturehadlongbeenprohibitedinschoolmusiceducationbyChina’sstrongrevolutionaryorientation,whichfeared‘spiritualpollution’byWesterncultures.However,sincetheearlytwenty-firstcentury,educationreformhasattemptedtohelpstudentsdealwithexperiencesintheirdailylivesandhasofficiallyincludedlearningthecanonofpopularmusicinthemusiccurriculum.Inrelationtothistopic,thisbookanalyseshowsocialtransformationandculturalpoliticshaveaffectedcommunityrelationsandthetransmissionofpopularmusicthroughschoolmusiceducation.Hopresentsmusicandmusiceducationassociopoliticalconstructionsofnationalismandglobalization.Moreover,howpopularmusicisreceivedinnationalandglobalcontextsandhowitaffectstheconstructionofsocialandmusicalmeaningsinschoolmusiceducation,aswellasthereformationofmusiceducationinmainlandChina,isdiscussed.Basedontheperspectivesofschoolmusicteachersandstudents,thefindingsoftheempiricalstudiesinthisbookaddressthepowerandpotentialuseofpopularmusicinschoolmusiceducationasaproducerandreproducerofculturalpoliticsinthemusiccurriculuminthemainland.