How Long to Read Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow

How Long Does it Take to Read Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow?

It takes the average reader 3 hours and 10 minutes to read Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow by Marc L. Moskowitz

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

Since the mid-1990s, Taiwan’s unique brand of Mandopop (Mandarin Chinese–language pop music) has dictated the musical tastes of the mainland and the rest of Chinese-speaking Asia. Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow explores Mandopop’s surprisingly complex cultural implications in Taiwan and the PRC, where it has established new gender roles, created a vocabulary to express individualism, and introduced transnational culture to a country that had closed its doors to the world for twenty years. In his early chapters, Marc L. Moskowitz provides the historical background necessary to understand the contemporary Mandopop scene, beginning with the birth of Chinese popular music in the East Asian jazz Mecca of 1920s Shanghai. A brief overview of alternative musical genres in the PRC such as Beijing rock and revolutionary opera is included. The section concludes with a look at the manner in which Taiwan’s musical ethos has influenced the mainland’s music industry and how Mandopop has brought Western music and cultural values to the PRC. This leads to a discussion of Taiwan pop’s exceptional hybridity, beginning with foreign influences during the colonial period under the Dutch and Japanese and continuing with the country’s political, cultural, and economic alliance with the U.S. Moskowitz addresses the resulting wealth of transnational musical influences from the rest of East Asia and the U.S. and Taiwan pop’s appeal to audiences in both the PRC and Taiwan. In doing so, he explores how Mandopop’s "songs of sorrow," with their ubiquitous themes of loneliness and isolation, engage a range of emotional expression that resonates strongly in the PRC. Later chapters examine the construction of male and female identities in Mandopop and look at the widespread condemnation of the genre by critics. Drawing on analyses and data from earlier chapters (including interviews with dozens of performers, song writers, and lay people in Taipei and Shanghai), Moskowitz attempts to answer the question: Why, if the music is as bad as some assert, is it so central to the lives of the largest population in the world? To answer, he highlights Mandopop’s important contribution as a poetic lament that simultaneously embraces and protests modern life. Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow is a highly readable introduction to an important but understudied East Asian phenomenon. It will find a ready audience among scholars and students of Chinese and Taiwanese popular culture as well as musicologists studying transnational music flows and non-Western popular music.

How long is Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow?

Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow by Marc L. Moskowitz is 186 pages long, and a total of 47,616 words.

This makes it 63% the length of the average book. It also has 58% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 4 hours and 20 minutes to read Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow aloud.

What Reading Level is Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow?

Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow is suitable for students ages 10 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow?

Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow by Marc L. Moskowitz is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

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