Neutralizing Temporary Inequities in Moral Status

Chinese Street Singers and the Gift Economy

Bibliographic Data

ID5260001
AuthorsSamuel Horlor (0000-0001-7709-2132, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume50
Issue2
Pages3-32
Publication date2019-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Music (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0044-9202 • E-ISSN: 1553-5630
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/amu.2019.0013
OpenAlexW2954061096
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited44

The cash tips that audience members offer to singers are a central part of the informal performances of popular songs held daily in public spaces of Wuhan, China. The singing, plus various forms of attention and material offerings, temporarily raise performers' moral status over that of audience members, inspiring reciprocal obligations that are neutralized by the giving of cash. By understanding the money as gifts rather than as part of transactions, the article explores the interpersonal dimensions of economic dealings around the music. Reciprocal obligations, rather than notions of collective belonging, are the main focal point for social meaning here

Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Business · Cash · China · Economics · Linguistics · Management · Meaning (existential · Point (geometry · Political science · Reciprocal · Singing · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Music History and Culture · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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