Session 139: The Rhythm of Aesthetic Resistance: Global Icons, Tribal Beats, and Collective (Sub)Cultures in Asia

Organizer: Jane M. Ferguson, Cornell University

Chair: Toshiya Ueno, Wako University

Discussant: Andrew Willford, Cornell University

Keywords: popular music, digital media, youth culture, globalization.

In recent decades, Asia has seen a proliferation of networks of what has been called neo-tribalism. Rather than take the homogenizing route of "globalization" these movements are noted for their flexibility and ability to address local issues and politics. When people unite along lines of tribal solidarity, whether their meeting grounds are systematic or spontaneous, the politics of the subculture are articulated in various ways. What does it mean, that these spaces mediate culture clash, and what can be gleaned from the groups’ iconography, and the various and nefarious rhythms that pulse through the collectives? What kind of alternate identity is being explored, and can it be looked at as political or aesthetic resistance to dominant ideology? This multi-disciplinary, multi-sited panel will tackle the aesthetics of cultural resistance among marginalized groups in East and Southeast Asia, and examine how they are instrumentally bound to various forms of consumerism in general and digital electronic media in particular.

The Techno-Party as Contact Zone in the Context of Tribal Solidarity and Affective Alliance

Toshiya Ueno, Wako University

Neo-Tribalism: During the past ten years, the notions of Tribes and Tribalism have become increasingly prevalent in Cultural Studies and Sociology on urban youth cultures, and these slippery terms demand further critical examination. At the same time, Japanese urban youth collectives have embraced these terms in the context of the electronic dance music scene.

Is resistance dead? Multiple forms of cultural politics, such as DiY, Free Radio (Internet Streaming), Ecology, LETS, RTS, and squatting, have proliferated on the open-air techno-party scene, including that of Japan. However, it seems hasty that many critics have denied the (legendary) conception of "Resistance through Rituals" as elaborated by the Birmingham School in the 1970s. Rather than abandon the notion of cultural resistance, I argue that it is time for an overhaul.

The Techno-Party as Contact Zone: While the affective politics within the movement and scenes of techno-party does not constitute direct political action, there is an emerging horizon of politics. There have been some attempts to locate the techno-party as a contact zone of politics and art, local and urban, and music tribes and other subcultural tribes. This scene can be an en-trance (a gate of entering the unknown field with pleasure) to various activities. Concrete examples of this will be drawn from the scene in Japan.

Did Somebody Say Hello Kitty? The Ghost of Empire and Animal(ization) in Japan

Tomoko Shimizu, University of Yamanashi

Hello Kitty is known as a cultural icon of Japanese "cutification." The icon was born in 1974 and became thirty years old in 2004. Many anniversary exhibitions were held, and were well-attended. While cute culture is one of tribal solidarity, the Hello Kitty character, as well as other cute characters are also hybrid monsters in the context of Americanization in Japan after World War II. In particular, a figuration and positioning of both childhood and "innocence" are deeply connected to a broad range of what has been called the "Disneyfied" effects and their negotiation within Japanese society.

In this presentation, I will discuss the cultural politics of "infantility" and "animalization" and allegiance to cute as tribal solidarity in the economic context of late capitalism, looking through the Hello Kitty phenomenon in the area of global media.

Alive or Dead? Ronggeng Music in Modern Thailand

May Mullins, National University of Singapore

Thailand, a country that displays a diversity of culture and people, is privileged with a wide range of indigenous music. Music, an important component in many of the indigenous cultures of this country, is currently facing several threats to retaining its indigenousness. These threats are: (a) regionalization of cultures; and (b) globalization of popular music. Yet at the same time, the intention of the local communities to preserve their indigenous music and the invention of ‘world music,’ fed by the concept of ‘exoticism’ and infused with modern elements for marketability in the global market, preserves the demand for indigenous music. Hence, the objective of this paper is to examine the status of a specific branch of indigenous music, Ronggeng, which is a Malay (both tribal and Melayu, not ethnically Thai) music in the modern Thailand context, through looking at the above-mentioned trends. This paper argues that forty years of broad political and social change have not diminished the local communities’ ability to preserve Ronggeng music in Thailand. Through an in-depth interview with a nationally recognized Ronggeng artist and his son based in Pattani, Southern Thailand, I hope to understand how the national and global trends have impacted the local communities’ ability to preserve their culture.

Siam Reggae: Rasta Aesthetics and Tribal Counterculture in Northern Thailand

Jane M. Ferguson, Cornell University

While some might diagnose the reggae lifestyle in Thailand to be a "beach-theme" import from recreational tourism, local tribal youth politics in Northern Thailand suggests that rasta aesthetics represent a new form of political resistance on the local youth scenes. Though reggae music and styles might not represent the rastafarian political corpus to its followers in Northern Thailand, it is often presented as an index of political affirmation of regional (ethnic) resistance. Some youth from the South of Thailand will sport dreadlocks, out of an aesthetic identification with the rasta look, while others see it as an exhibition of regional difference. If reggae music is the "cry of the people" that it was to Jimmy Cliff, what does it mean that reggae aesthetics have taken on new political implications in the Thai context? Can people unite politically or tribally through the music and aesthetics? Based on ethnographic data collected in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this paper will discuss the politics and aesthetics of Thai regional identities, rastafari and reggae music as they are interpreted and articulated by consumers in Northern Thailand.