Dynamic Korea and Rhythmic Form

Most of the current discussions on globalization of music have focused on cultural imperialism, neoliberal markets, and media technologies; intersections between commercial cultures and resistance movements; and the creation of new publics. Through these inquiries, many define music to be a mere mediating apparatus of ideas, power, currency, and/or politics. Katherine In-Young Lee’s Dynamic Korea and Rhythmic Form begins its journey with a critique of how only a few scholars delve into the “musical reasons as to why certain musical practices move with apparent ease” (3). Her question is closely linked with the raison d’être of the field of ethnomusicology today—what distinctive aspects does music have when it departs from its cultural roots, transcends political and physical boundaries, transforms its meanings and forms during this journey, and becomes a social process that produces a new set of content, politics, and identities? Borrowing Martin Stokes’s words, Lee asks why and how...