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CCS Spring 2026 Book Launch - China Sounds Across Borders: Migration, Mobility

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Tracing the global journeys of Chinese sounds from the nineteenth century to the present, this volume charts a vast sonic territory: from Cantonese opera arias in San Francisco to the “Far East sound” that shaped Jamaican reggae, and from the melodies of pigeon whistles over Germany to the revolutionary anthems of Cold War Italy… How have these sounds—traveling via migration, media, and diplomacy—been heard, adapted, or even rejected in disparate cultural landscapes? Through seventeen case studies spanning Asia, the Americas, and Europe, the book uncovers the myriad ways sounds interpreted as “Chinese” are transformed, contested, and imbued with new meanings as they reverberate across geopolitical and cultural borders. This collection provides a novel auditory history of China’s global entanglements, offering a comparative lens to understand the dynamic role of sound in transnational exchange and the negotiation of cultural identity.

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Center for Chinese Studies, Mānoa Campus

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