Till We Meet Again ─ On The Contemporary Significance of Teresa Tengfor China

• Main Authors: Ruei-Lin Kao, 高瑞麟
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/19014592163854714453

碩士 === 世新大學 === 新聞學研究所(含碩專班) === 101 === According to the official data from the Ministry of Culture of mainland, there were more than 100 concerts dedicated to Teresa Teng even just alone in 2009. It has been long beyond comprehension that an artist who was born and had grown native in Taiwan could have possibly caused such a constant and big influence in mainland China, especially when considering the fact that the artist had never arrived in China physically. Also the changes of commentary from the Beijing official over the years have been impressive, from “the decadent” in 1980s to the proclaimed winning candidate as the "New China's most influential cultural figures" in 2008. The evolution has greatly aroused the researcher’s curiosity. In September, 2011, a musical from mainland China authorized by the "Teresa Teng Foundation” staged in Taipei. The session brought out a number of scenes of the army background and the collective life of the Cultural Revolution in mainland China presented alone Teng’s music. Such presentation explains the un-integratible differences between the interpretations by Taiwan experience and China experience on the icon of Teresa Teng. The symbolic meanings of the same icon have varied beyond greatly, but only less than few academic papers discuss or interpret such impact. This study attempts to sort out the historical context with depth interviews and document analysis, arousing around the core of the reaction of the audience, attempting to find the contemporary significance of Teresa Teng to mainland China. The results as follows: A. Teng’s Music Have Awaken the Self-awareness of the Continent Listeners Under the social atmosphere during the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese people's body awareness had been kidnapped by the idea of “one country.” "Personal sacrifices are to achieve the group" was the unshakable value of steel, but surprisingly loosened by the introduction of a popular voice of sweetness and softness. Teng’s music had not only awakened the awareness of personal emotions during that twisted era, but also became a tool to declare individualism for the continental China in the 1980s. B. Teng Became the Subject of Population Dynamics to Imagine the Future After the Chinese economic reform, Hong Kong influence had been hits in pop culture due to the yearning the pomposity of economy from the continental audience. Within such association, Teng’s music had enjoyed the priority of official language rather than the Cantonese dialect, so as to expand another great success. Within such popularity, Teng’s music had not only brought in commercial activities, but also been thought to fill in the “moral vacuum” brought by the economic reform, especially under the long-term repression and corruption from the "Marxism-Leninism," and the post-colonial "aphasia" state in the contemporary history of China. C. the Possibilities of Healing and Reflections brought by Teng’s Music The experiences of Teng’s music used to take out the imaginations about the future, and they also collect the organic shared memories of an exceptional era of history. Many listeners have declared the experiences on Teng’s music as “the awareness,” “the awakening,” or “the healing.” The encounter of Teng’s music/popularity and the Cultural Revolution has made Teng an almost irreplaceable agent to bring out the traumatic experience from the Mao Zedong regime, and even the postcolonial experience of economic reform in the following Chinese contemporary history. Touching the many aspects about the traumatic experiences, the respondents seem to complete a trip to personal healing journey through their statements, reflections, and criticism on their experiences of Teng’s music and that era.