Hired to be Overheard: Resonances of Chindon-ya in Contemporary Japan
Monday, March 2, 2020
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Logan Center 802
This coming Monday (3/2), Please join the Sound & Society Workshop, in collaboration with the Ethnoise Workshop, in welcoming Marié Abe, Associate Professor of Music, Musicology, and Ethnomusicology at Boston University.
Professor Abe will be presenting on her recently published book, Resonances of Chindon-ya: Sounding Space and Sociality in Contemporary Japan. For the first half of the workshop, she will offer a presentation that addresses one of the book’s central themes, which she describes as follows:
Chindon-ya, dating back to the 1840s, are ostentatiously costumed street musicians who publicize a business by parading through neighborhood streets in Japan. Against the background of long-term economic downturn, growing social precarity, and nuclear anxiety, Abe’s recently published book investigates how this seemingly outdated means of advertisement has recently gained traction as an aesthetic, economic, and political practice after decades of inactivity. Drawing on the book, this presentation will address the central analytic hibiki (resonance), which highlights the processes in which chindon-ya’s sound is designed to elicit an affective response from a listener who simply “overhears” chindon-ya in public spaces.
The Prologue and Introduction to Prof. Abe’s book is available for pre-circulation, and can be downloaded here.
Please also be careful to note the date and location of this meeting, which differs from our standard schedule.
As always, refreshments will be served! Please feel free to contact either Anna (abgatdula@uchicago.edu) or Alex (murphya1@uchicago.edu) with any questions or concerns. Persons who need assistance should notify the coordinators in advance.