界域的文化動能：冷戰前期仰光唐人街的電影跨國網絡及其影響

呂心純。〈界域的文化動能：冷戰前期仰光唐人街的電影跨國網絡及其影響〉。《民俗曲藝》213 (2021.9): 1-47。

Lu Tasaw Hsin-chun. “Cultural Agency of the Borderlands: Transnational Cinematic Networks and Their Impacts on Rangoon Chinatown’s Early Cold War.” Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore 213 (2021.9):1-47.

 

Abstract

 

緬甸仰光的唐人街在冷戰時期存在着一股高度張力，特別是它在南洋的經貿樞紐位置，造就了這個海口移民聚落在1950年代，呈現出多重跨界的蓬勃音樂流動景象。本文嘗試從跨國史的視角切入，深入這個地方所涉入的電影跨國網絡，探討這樣的流動在當時所隱含的政治、經濟及文化意義：一來，華人資本家在南洋所建立的經貿網絡，還有緊挨在唐人街旁的活絡印度移民電影市場，再加上美國好萊塢的市場開發，在在於唐人街的樂舞圖像上烙下不可抹滅的印記。二來，緬甸介於中國與印度之間，仰光華人面對兩國各自在美國及蘇聯兩大陣營之外所開展出來的新興區域勢力，以及「祖國」在國共分裂後所產生的港產右翼電影及中國左翼文藝片的海外通路，使他們所處的社會情勢變得更為複雜，他們如何善用歌舞電影的情節及氣勢，在動盪的社會中安身立命並撫慰愁緒？本文提倡以「界域」（borderlands）作為一種理解途徑，從唐人街的樞紐位置出發，勾勒出它在冷戰時期所投射出的國際地緣政治，以及電影文化政治底下，仰光華人獨特的樂舞日常及其所呈現出來的多元跨界現象。

During the Cold War, there existed high dynamics of musical flows in Rangoon’s Chinatown. This resulted from its unique location as a cultural crossroads linking South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as one connected to a “homeland” perceived amongst Sino-Chinese peoples and the international world. This paper delves into such musical flows within the intricate transnational networks of the film industry at the time. On the one hand, the trades that Chinese, Indian, and the Hollywood’s entrepreneurs had built prior to the Cold War continued to give a remarkable impact on the Sino-Burmese musical practices. On the other hand, the political tensions in the Cold War between the US/British-India and Russia/China led to the group’s anxieties. How did the music and dance in films play a significant role in soothing and uplifting their spirit in their daily life is a key question. In conclusion, the concept of “borderlands” is suggested for the understanding of Rangoon’s Chinatown as a space free of political doctrinairism which can go across the rigid borderlines of ethnicity, class, and reality.

 

Also in Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore:

 

呂心純。〈跨文化表演的研究途徑：臺灣一場緬甸音樂表演的互為主體與多點民族誌研究〉。《民俗曲藝》193 (2016.9): 11-62。

Lu Tasaw Hsin-chun. “Approaches to Understanding Intercultural Performances: Intersubjectivity and Multi-sited Ethnographic Research on a Taiwan’s Burmese Music Performance.” Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore 193 (2016.9): 11-62.

http://ritualtheatreandfolkloreat.blogspot.tw/2016/10/blog-post_79.html

 

呂心純。〈音樂作為一種離散社會空間：臺灣中和地區緬甸華僑的音景與族裔空間建構〉。《民俗曲藝》171 (2011.3): 11-64。

Lu Tasaw Hsin-chun. “Music as Diasporic Social Space: Constructing Soundscapes and Ethnoscapes in a Burmese Chinese Community in Jhong-he, Taiwan.” Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore 171 (2011.3): 11-64.

http://ritualtheatreandfolkloreat.blogspot.tw/2011/03/blog-post_30.html