From "千人一声" to Posthuman Polyphony: Unforgetting Histories, Assembling Futures in Chinese Music Education

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: SIG-Critical Posthuman and Postfoundational Studies in Education Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

This practice-based research critically examines the phenomenon called “thousands of people with one voice” (千人一声) in current Chinese vocal music education. While signifying harmony and unity, it risks suppressing creativity and unique musical identities. Tracing historical development of Chinese music and its education—from “harmony beyond uniformity” in the Ancient Chinese Rites-Music Framework, through “Westernisation as assimilation” in Modern Music History, to the fissure of “difference” in Comtemporary Chinese Music—the research proposes “posthuman assemblages” to embrace heterogeneity (uniqueness) through polyphony (relationality). Through two innovative practices (Voice-Recording Experiment, Hub-We-Verse virtual space), the findings advocate for utilizing rhizomatic educational assemblages of body/earth/tech/cosmos to reactivate immanent differences and unfolding creative possibilities in future Chinese music education.

Author

• Yaxin Li, University of Cambridge