Refashioning Pop Music in Asia

2 Popping the myth of Chinese rock

David Stokes

 

 

Studies of rock music are frequently dominated by preconceived notions regarding the subversive nature of rock. In areas such as cultural studies these notions are tied in with more general theoretical frameworks which portray youth and/or popular culture as essentially subversive. This situation becomes further complicated with regard to the analysis of Chinese rock music, as it seems to be something of an unwritten law in the Western academic field of Chinese studies that Chinese culture only warrants investigation if it is legitimated by its antiquity or if it challenges the legitimacy of the current regime. An analysis of English-language texts on Chinese rock, both academic and journalistic, ...