Musical Aesthetic Tendencies and Group Psychology of the “Shidaiqu” in the Perspective of Cultural Resistance Theory
Abstract
Within the specific historical context of modern Shanghai, shidaiqu—through its fusion of Chinese and Western musical elements and its metaphorical lyrical content—initiated the rise of popular music and explored the aesthetic modernity of musical creation. Beneath its surface-level entertainment function lay a creative attitude marked by imitation, resistance, and innovation toward diverse foreign musical cultures. The cultural resistance embodied in shidaiqu took shape not only through its imitation of and compromise with dominant cultures rooted in modern popular-music aesthetics, but also in its emphasis on urbanized, individualized, and emotion-centered musical narratives and its humanistic concerns. Moreover, certain works conveyed national consciousness and sentiment through metaphorical expression. This article argues that shidaiqu, by creating a musical community of urban emotions, responded to and articulated the psychological needs of the emerging Shanghai citizenry during the early development of a colonial, multi-political, and modern social environment, thereby revealing the relationship between aesthetic activity and group psychology within a specific historical context.
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