published_or_final_version / Japanese Studies / Master / Master of Philosophy

This dissertation is comprised of a paper on Tristan Murail’s Mémoire/Érosion (1976) and a pair of my compositions—R[o/u]LE(s) for string quartet with percussion instruments (2016) and Projectile Motion (2018) for string quartet. The paper endeavors to draw attention to the rich, individualized voices within the French spectralist movement during its emerging phase, exemplifying various paths of en/decoding spectral thinking with Murail’s Mémoire/Érosion. In view of the interdisciplinary essence of spectralism, my analytical approach extensively adapts theories, research findings, and a posteriori knowledge from fields such as psychology, computer technology, and marketing so as to diversely reason how spectral thinking may be en/decoded by maneuvering information harnessed from the (pseudo-)spectral sources while interpreting the resultant perceptions. In comparison to the theme of the paper, which is heavily centered on pitch manipulation, the two compositions downplay such a musical dimension in varying degrees for different purposes. First, passive in nature and magnified by the incorporations of the percussion as well as the strings’ scratch tones, the reduced presence of pitch in R[o/u]LE(s) signals an attempt to navigate and investigate the topic of (Taiwanese) identity. Second, actively suppressed, pitch in Projectile Motion virtually becomes residual traces left by the heightened impulses of gesture, which, apart from being where the music largely gains its momentum, can be viewed as an expression of reflecting on issues of intimacy, accessibility, and cultural implications that contemporary music elicits in relation to a valued sector of my personal sphere.

The core of the thesis is, taking Chinese and Taiwanese identities in the contemporary Taiwanese society as cases, to discover how people perceive, formulate, and interact with identities. The research implements the grounded theory and in-depth interview research method, conducting 108 interviews in different regions of Taiwan from 2010 to 2013. The main argument is that identity in and of itself is merely a generic label, which does not cause emotions or behaviours - people know they are ascribed to certain categories, but they lack of motivations to take actions for the categorical groups. Only those identities articulated with 'emotion- or value-oriented discourses' can gain the capacity of provoking people's feelings and mobilising people to act. My research identifies and gives explicit discussions on two types of emotion-oriented discourses - imagined nostalgia and ethical narrative (which is also a value-oriented discourse), and three kinds of value-oriented discourses. They are: (1) Ethical narrative sets moral values for its audience; (2) cultural hierarchy defines socio-cultural values in society; and (3) political ideology signifies core political values of its audience. By treating identity as emotion- or value- oriented discourse, the thesis challenges traditional stereotypes of Taiwanese and Chinese identities in the society - such as identifying as Taiwanese means desiring independence, or all waishengren group would claim Chinese identity - and offers adequate theories to explain why it is not the case. The thesis emphasises that there is no determinant identity in the society, and it is possible for people to have a certain degree of free will choosing to accept or to reject the operation of an identity. The thesis takes critical views on identity politics, deeming it as a risky, double-edged sword in the contemporary politics, which should be carefully examined and substituted with another ideology capable to achieve political emancipation.