Buskers as agents of change in Hong Kong
Buskers as agents of change in Hong Kong
While busking can provide entertainment and contribute to community development, it can also stimulate discussions and debates within the community, prompting individuals to reflect on political and social crises. This is the case of post-pandemic Hong Kong, where citizens’ lives are tightly controlled; following a series of social movements, public gatherings have been prohibited due to questionable social distancing measures and the closure of pedestrian zones. This article presents a case study that examines the role of buskers as agents of change through community music engagement. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three buskers, participant observation and field notes taken during busking events. The findings from the conversation analysis revealed that buskers and citizens’ participation in busking activities helped cultivate their creative expression of ideas, empowering them to transcend the rigid societal structure and unequal power relations between authorities and citizens, enabling social advocacy efforts such as reclaiming lost public space, expanding the community into the online realm, and fostering a cultivated mindset of ‘becoming’ that sustains the possibilities of autonomy within the community.
busking, community music, identity, placemaking, representation, social space
177-193
Lam, Chiying
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Cheng, Lee
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He, Sunnie Yang
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Lam, Chiying
e6699e70-b5b7-4c70-bb61-785dae62c963
Cheng, Lee
0438b243-425c-422e-aa7a-410a5800ace3
He, Sunnie Yang
8c40b82b-b52b-4258-a0f4-d0aa3d1b7df0
Lam, Chiying, Cheng, Lee and He, Sunnie Yang
(2023)
Buskers as agents of change in Hong Kong.
International Journal of Community Music, 16 (2), .
(doi:10.1386/ijcm_00084_1).
Abstract
While busking can provide entertainment and contribute to community development, it can also stimulate discussions and debates within the community, prompting individuals to reflect on political and social crises. This is the case of post-pandemic Hong Kong, where citizens’ lives are tightly controlled; following a series of social movements, public gatherings have been prohibited due to questionable social distancing measures and the closure of pedestrian zones. This article presents a case study that examines the role of buskers as agents of change through community music engagement. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with three buskers, participant observation and field notes taken during busking events. The findings from the conversation analysis revealed that buskers and citizens’ participation in busking activities helped cultivate their creative expression of ideas, empowering them to transcend the rigid societal structure and unequal power relations between authorities and citizens, enabling social advocacy efforts such as reclaiming lost public space, expanding the community into the online realm, and fostering a cultivated mindset of ‘becoming’ that sustains the possibilities of autonomy within the community.
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Accepted/In Press date: 24 May 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 September 2023
Keywords:
busking, community music, identity, placemaking, representation, social space
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Local EPrints ID: 487529
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/487529
ISSN: 1752-6299
PURE UUID: 3c7d52c5-1f43-4e77-a417-a0fe229b32ad
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Date deposited: 22 Feb 2024 18:07
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:11
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Author:
Chiying Lam
Author:
Lee Cheng
Author:
Sunnie Yang He
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