Minstrelsy and Mimesis in the South China Sea: Filipino Migrant Musicians, Chinese Hosts, and the Disciplining of Relations in Hong Kong

Music Scholarship and Colonialism in Asia

Studies of colonialism and that which is understood as neocolonialism, not only emerged as a discipline in the world of the former colonizer, but for much of its existence, the discipline has been concentrated in the hands of those who determine the rules of engagement (Loomba 1998; Nandy 1989).¹ Structural dynamics in the academic world may account for a positivist and exclusionary approach in studies of colonialism. It is therefore not difficult to understand that the researcher from the former colonizing world occupies a position of privilege, in which he or she is the bearer of a top-down oriented interpretation of colonialism. In this arrangement there is little space for the voices of the indigene.

In the music scholarship of Southeast Asia, with the exception of the Philippines where there is prolific activity, there is generally a paucity of studies on the relationship between musical performance and colonialism. This is in contrast to the growing output of research on musical behavior in neocolonial regions in other parts of the globe (Agawu 2003; Clayton and Zon 2007; Weidman 2006). In Southeast Asia, there is a dire need to interrogate the effects of colonialism on musical behavior more vigorously, since colonialism itself is further marginalized by contemporary concerns, of which globalization probably ranks highest. We have yet to reinforce the study of music in its relation with colonialism, because in most former colonies, practices in governance and lifestyle with their origins in colonialism continue to thrive. This situation is strongly evident in the Philippines. In the Philippines, there is ongoing debate as to how a Filipino nationalism may be imagined when vast numbers of Filipino citizens are either abroad or taken in by the seeming benevolence of the United States, the former colonizer of the Philippines (Bulosan 1973; Constantino 1978; Kramer 2006; Rodell 2002; Tadiar 2004). The Philippines experienced colonialism by the Spanish (1521–1896), the British (1762–1764), and the Americans (1898–1946). For many Filipinos, the American dream up to this day is very much part of the everyday imaginary (Cannell 1999, Constantino 1978, Rodell 2002).

This article offers an interpretation of minstrelsy, which also reflects on wider systems of exchange, where music and musical performance may be observed as integral to the Filipino musician’s subjectivity. In the context of Gardiner’s crisis of rationality (2000, 129), the article further examines performance in the Filipino musician’s world, as mediated in the ongoing effects of colonialism and the pressing demands of late capitalism. The Filipino musician has a long-standing presence in Hong Kong, and the argument below is informed by the nature of class and race relations when visitor and host, who had both been colonized in previous times, come into contact. The article relates and interprets the experiences of Filipino musicians in the port cities of Shanghai, Macau, and in particular, Hong Kong, since this is where there had been a more sustained presence.²

As a means of developing the study of neocolonialism in the music scholarship of Southeast Asia, this article uses the voices and experiences of Filipino musicians, who also double as neocolonial subjects, and the resources of a researcher of the neocolonial world. The interpretation of my fieldwork is strongly influenced by my experience as an activist in apartheid South Africa. My interests are in understanding how music is insinuated in political struggle and in asymmetrical relations, and to understand how social processes render musical activity spurious and dialogic. Many South Africans continue to have a strong bond with Britain, while others, after hundreds of years of racism and class oppression, are involved in the structuring of a nascent democratic society. These conditions render South Africa more or less part of the developing world and a part of a neocolonial world order. The experience in South Africa, in addition to my status as an outsider to both Filipino migrants and Hong Kong Chinese, allowed me to observe their relationship with greater musical and social awareness. In these contexts...