Seeding the Tradition: Musical Creativity in Southern Vietnam

by Alexander M. Cannon

Overview

Critically evaluates assumptions of creativity by exploring the dynamism of southern Vietnamese traditional music

For artists, creativity plays a powerful role in understanding, confronting, and negotiating the crises of the present. Seeding the Tradition explores conflicting creativities in traditional music in Hõ Chí Minh City, the Mekong Delta, and the Vietnamese diaspora, and how they influence contemporary southern Vietnamese culture. The book centers on the ways in which musicians of đón ca tài tù, a "music for diversion," practice creativity or sáng tạo in early 21st-century southern Vietnam. These musicians draw from long-standing theories of primarily Daoist creation while adopting strategically from and also reacting to a western neo-liberal model of creativity focused primarily—although not exclusively—on the individual genius. They play with metaphors of growth, development, and ruin to not only maintain their tradition but keep it vibrant in the rapidly-shifting context of modern Vietnam. With ethnographic descriptions of zither lessons in Hõ Chi Minh City, outdoor music cafes in Cãn Thơ, and television programs in Đõng Tháp, Seeding the Tradition offers a rich description of southern Vietnamese sáng tạo and suggests revised approaches to studying creativity in contemporary ethnomusicology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780819580801
Publisher:	Wesleyan University Press
Publication date:	06/14/2022
Series:	Music / Culture
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

ALEXANDER M. CANNON (Birmingham, England) is an associate professor in the Department of Music at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. He currently serves as Co-Editor of Ethnomusicology Forum and as a member of the British Forum for Ethnomusicology Executive Committee.

Table of Contents

Media Examples vii

Note on Pronunciation ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 Framing Contested Creativities 17

2 Creativity in Ethnomusicology 34

3 The Seed of Creativity in Southern Vietnam 55

4 Portrait of Ðòn ca tài tu 80

5 Playing with Metaphor 106

6 Developing Creativity 139

7 Tradition, Still Remains 169

8 Creativity in New Directions 197

Conclusion 216

Glossary 221

Notes 227

References 247

Index 271

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Through the fascinating discussion and redefinition of the ethnographic concept of creativity, Alexander Cannon, an outsider armed with an insider's understanding, portrays beautifully and compellingly the relevant vitality of đn ca tài t as a contemporary living soul in southern Vietnam."—PQ Phan, professor of music/composition, Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music

"This study effectively blends vivid ethnography, consideration of historical contexts, and detailed musical analysis. The attention paid to Vietnamese-language concepts deftly highlights how musicians think about their art."—Helen Rees, professor of ethnomusicology, UCLA

Editorial Reviews

"Through the fascinating discussion and redefinition of the ethnographic concept of creativity, Alexander Cannon, an outsider armed with an insider's understanding, portrays beautifully and compellingly the relevant vitality of đn ca tài t as a contemporary living soul in southern Vietnam."—PQ Phan, professor of music/composition, Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music

"This study effectively blends vivid ethnography, consideration of historical contexts, and detailed musical analysis. The attention paid to Vietnamese-language concepts deftly highlights how musicians think about their art."—Helen Rees, professor of ethnomusicology, UCLA

From the Publisher