Sounding Out Heritage

Lauren Meeker

Lauren Meeker

Sounding Out Heritage

Cultural Politics and the Social Practice of Quan ho Folk Song in Northern Vietnam

In: Southeast Asia: Politics, Meaning, and Memory, 60

Edited by: David P. Chandler and Rita Smith Kipp

University of Hawaii Press | 2013

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824838072

Overview
Contents

About this book

Sounding Out Heritage explores the cultural politics that have shaped the recent history and practice of a unique style of folk song that originated in Bắc Ninh province, northern Vietnam. The book delves into the rich and complicated history of quan họ, showing the changes it has undergone over the last sixty years as it moved from village practice onto the professional stage. Interweaving an examination of folk music, cultural nationalism, and cultural heritage with an in-depth ethnographic account of the changing social practice of quan ho folk song, author Lauren Meeker presents a vivid and historically contextualized picture of the quan họ “soundscape.” Village practitioners, ordinary people who love to sing quan họ, must now negotiate increased attention from those outside the village and their own designation as “living treasures.” Professional singers, with their different performance styles and representational practices, have been incorporated into the quan họ soundscape in an effort to highlight and popularize the culture of Bắc Ninh province in the national context.

With its focus on the politics of rescuing, preserving, and performing folk music, this book makes a timely contribution to studies of cultural politics by showing with considerable nuance how a tradition can become a self-conscious heritage and national icon. In 2009, Quan Họ Bắc Ninh Folk Songs was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Defining and reframing quan họ as cultural heritage has further complicated the relationship between village and professional quan họ and raises crucial issues about who has the authority to speak for quan họ in the international context. Sounding Out Heritage offers an in-depth account of the impact of cultural politics on the lives and practices of quan họ folk singers in Vietnam and shows compellingly how a tradition can mean many things to many people.

Reviews

As Lauren Meeker shows in this compelling ethnography, the songs performed in the villages of Bắc Ninh, where quan họ is said to have originated, are not something one simply goes to “watch.” Building from fieldwork in Diềm village, the book details the fascinating social dynamics of quan họ in the village setting.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	v
Acknowledgments Free access PDF PDF	vii
Introduction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
Chapter 1. Music after the Revolution: A “Unified Contradiction Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	21
Chapter 2. Embodied Practices and Relationships of Sentiment Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	44
Chapter 3. “How Much for a Song?” Local Stories, National Representations Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	65
Chapter 4. Staging Quan Họ, Televising New Social Relationships Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	94
Chapter 5. Broadcasting to Ourselves at the Quan Họ Festivals Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	115
Conclusion Heritage and the Afterlife of Songs Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	138
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	151
Glossary Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	163
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	165
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	177

Sounding Out Heritage

Cultural Politics and the Social Practice of Quan ho Folk Song in Northern Vietnam

Details

Formats