Popular Music of Vietnam: The Politics of Memory, the Economics of Forgetting (Routledge Studies in Ethnomusicology)

Based on the author’s research in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and other urban areas in Vietnam, this study of contemporary Vietnamese popular music explores the ways globalization and free market economics have influenced the music and subcultures of Vietnamese youth, focusing on the conflict between the politics of remembering, nurtured by the Vietnamese Communist government, and the politics of forgetting driven by the capitalist interests of the music industry. Vietnamese youth at the end of the second and beginning of the third millennium are influenced by the challenges generated by a number of seemingly opposite ideologies and realities, such as "the past" versus "the present," socialism versus capitalism, and cultural traditionalism versus globalization. Vietnam has undergone a radical demographic shift with a very pronounced youth movement, and consequently, Vietnamese popular culture has been radically reshaped by a young population coming of age in the twenty-first century. As Olsen reveals, the way Vietnamese young people cope with these opposing and contrasting forces is often expressed in their active and passive music making. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 List of Figures......Page 10 Foreword......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 18 1 Prelude......Page 20 2 Cultural and Political Settings for Vietnam’s Popular Music......Page 33 3 Vietnamese Pop Music Stars and the Bumpy Road to Stardom......Page 45 4 Vietnamese Rock, Pop-Rock, and Pop Music Bands......Page 114 5 Vietnamese Songwriters, Social Issues, and Government Persuasion......Page 148 6 Performance Venues for (Mostly) Live Popular Music......Page 192 7 Disseminating Popular Music: Pop and Rock Music Concerts, Festivals, and Shows......Page 220 8 Disseminating Popular Music: Audio and Video Recordings......Page 241 9 Vietnamese Karaoke: Place, Pleasure, Politics, and Profit......Page 255 10 Conclusion: The Politics and Economics of Popular Music in Vietnam......Page 275 Notes......Page 280 Glossary......Page 284 Bibliography......Page 288 Index......Page 296 Cultural And Political Settings For Vietnam's Popular Music -- Vietnamese Pop Music Stars And The Bumpy Road To Stardom -- Vietnamese Rock, Pop-rock, And Pop Music Bands -- Vietnamese Songwriters, Social Issues, And Government Persuasion -- Performance Venues For (mostly) Live Popular Music -- Disseminating Popular Music : Pop And Rock Music Concerts, Festivals, And Shows -- Disseminating Popular Music : Audio And Video Recordings -- Vietnamese Karaoke : Place, Pleasure, Politics, And Profit -- Conclusion : The Politics And Economics Of Popular Music In Vietnam. Dale A. Olsen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [269]-275) And Index.