New Directions in Chinese Music Research

This talk identifies prospects for Chinese music studies in the contemporary era as we collectively develop a multi-disciplinary future that is academically valuable, incisive, and inclusive of researchers from contrasting linguistic, societal, and intellectual backgrounds. I present a view of Chinese music studies as a meeting point for scholars who represent positions and perspectives that are inherently “in-between” (between disciplines; between research consultants and readerships; mediating historical, cultural, or linguistic gulfs; etc.), sometimes multiply so. This suggests an explicitly “messy” reality, in which we actively build bridges through cooperation, cross-reading, translation, and consultation. In such a situation, we need to shift continuously from phases of more individual enquiry toward moments of shared focus and back again, sustaining common points-of-reference and the benefits of flexible and diverse responses to newly arising or newly rediscovered concerns. I outline selected concrete steps that we might take in strengthening our “in-betweenness,” which significantly includes greater translation from Chinese to English (and other languages), and I offer a rationale for providing enhanced attention to co-research and co-authoring as ways of producing engaged music research alongside members of musical communities for global readerships.