Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 14-17th December 2016 Program Index

noh master Akira Matsui. It follows a white Western Buddhist pilgrim who visits Hiroshima in order alleviate
himself of remorse associated with the atomic bomb. There he meets the ghost of Robert Oppenheimer –
one of the lead scientists in the Manhattan project. Oppenheimer haunts Hiroshima and must come to terms
with his involvement in the atomic bomb in order to be relieved of the curse of his haunting. In this paper I
read the play as an example of intercultural theatre, and explore the ways in which the white actors in the
play embody Japaneseness through their adoption of the various culturally specific forms of performance
within noh theatre. I argue that this embodiment represents what Kuan Hsing Chen calls “becoming others”
and see it as an alternative to bounded and exclusive cultural/racial identities. The common noh theme of
spiritual possession in the play furthers this theme of embodying difference. Oppenheimer must become the
Buddhist deity Fudo Myo-o in order to be redeemed. I argue that the play’s cultivation of mixed cultural
subjectivities enables a kind of alter-politics – to use a word recently taken up by Ghassan Hage. Becoming
others enables us to be, as Hage says, “radically other than what we are”.
Adiel Portugali On cosmopolitanism and contemporary Chinese jazz – the case of Shanghai
Jazz in Shanghai emerged in the 1920s as a pioneering style amid a rising wave of popular music in China.
The second appearance of jazz in Shanghai, which I refer to as contemporary Chinese jazz, took place in the
1990s and has since developed a popular, dynamic and cosmopolitan music scene, where global, regional,
national and local sounds and identities interact, hybridize and form new musical expressions. This paper
reveals the cosmopolitan shift and characteristics of contemporary jazz in Shanghai, and discusses the
ambivalent implications of this process, as experienced and viewed by musician members of its scene. This
insider’s view perspective indicates that while some jazz musicians in Shanghai experience the cosmopolitan
affect on their scene as a promising “local” opportunity, others regards it as a suppressive “global” takeover.
Thus, the paper demonstrates that the general cosmopolitan shift and image of Shanghai has expanded and
prospered its music industry, but also left its local musicians unemployed. Ironically, it further shows that the
particular cosmopolitan shift of Shanghai’s jazz scene have moved it both “forward” – towards the
international arena of jazz, and “backward” – towards ethnic, cultural and national convergences. So far, the
topic of contemporary Chinese jazz did not gain an explicit academic attention and this glimpse into the
scene of Shanghai is a preliminary step in exploring some of the complexities of China’s 21st century culture,
music and sounds.
Frieda Joy Angelica Olay Ruiz Identities in Flux: Music, Identity Choice, and Identity Affirmation among Japanese
Filipino Children (JFCs) in Kyoto, Japan
This paper discusses the representations and reconstruction of Japanese-Filipino identity in select Original
Pinoy Music (OPM) and how Japanese Filipino Children or JFC give meaning and interpret such
representations, most especially how music figures in terms of identity choice. Original Pinoy Music is simply
described as music that is produced by Filipino musicians either in the English or Filipino language (or other
Philippine languages). This paper explores on definitions on ethnic identity by tracing how OPM is consumed
by its audience, the JFC, and examines the embodiment of these representations in their own sociocultural
context. This idea resonates with Michel Foucault’s and George Marcus’ concepts wherein the constructions
of identity choice are fluid and shifting and move from spheres where positions are negotiated and
deconstructed to suit the individual’s cultural milieu. The main question of this study is: what are the
different images and representations on identity that can be gleaned from the songs produced in the
Philippines? And what are the interpretations of Japanese Filipino Children (JFC) with regard to these songs?
This study used participant observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews in examining the dynamics
of the creation/production, consumption and recreation/reproduction of meaning as it occurs in text, media
production and media consumption by JFCs in Japan. Participant-observation was conducted in places where
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