| In an effort to counterbalance the approach of previous works that have considered primarily literary and linguistic information over the musical and sociocultural, this study looks at Northern Chinese narrative arts from the point of view of an ethnomusicologist. Generally speaking, storytelling in China, known as Quyi, is distinguished by a variety in performance modes involving speaking, reciting, and singing as separate delivery styles as well as in assorted combinations. In addition to the different ways in which the voice is manipulated in the performance of each of the hundreds of genres currently performed throughout China, the literary medium also varies in each narrative form, featuring anything from semi-literary poetic styles to coarse vernacular prose.;Recognized as the center for the creating, transmitting, and consuming of the narrative arts in North China, the industrial metropolis of Tianjin boasts more genres, more performers, and bigger troupes than virtually all of the other cities and geographical units in the region. Consequently, this city was chosen as the place in which to conduct research on the interplay between language and music in Northern Chinese storytelling forms. Although over ten different genres are currently performed by the Tianjin Municipal Quyi Troupe, only four were selected for this study based on acknowledged popularity within the Tianjin Quyi community, relative access to informants, and availability of printed and recorded materials: Tianjin Popular Tunes (Tianjin Shi Diao); Beijing Drumsong (Jing Yun Da Gu); Fast Clappertales (Kuai Bar Shu); and Comic Routines (Xiang Sheng). Concentrating on the association between aesthetic and semantic considerations in these four genres as the focal point of the investigation, the purpose of this dissertation is to describe the social environment of the narrative arts in Tianjin, to analyze the ways in which delivery style and textual message interact in each of the four forms, and to relate the information gleaned from the analyses to broader sociocultural concerns. |
