‘Authenticity’ of English in Asian Popular Music

Andrew MoodyUniversity of Macau

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Silibil N’ Brains

Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd

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The Proclaimers

1988

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California Schemin’We walked out on to the tiny stage to an intense roar from a packed venue. The atmosphere was electric, everyone expectant. Before the lights came on to blind me, I scanned the crowd and saw several familiar faces: Ruth, old fans, old A&Rs, friends and enemies. Behind me, the band launched into our opening song, 'Become the Monster', and it carried me up on a wave of pure momentum. This, I knew, was it. I would not fuck things up, not this time. I would do what had to be done. I approached the microphone and gripped it tightly between two clammy palms. Over the sound of the building drumbeat, I spoke.

'We're Hopeless Heroic', I said, not in my affected accent, but in my broad, natural one, and with pride. 'I'm Gavin Bain and . . .' My mouth was dry. I took a breath. 'And I'm not American, I'm Scottish'.

I dared a glace at Grant on guitar, who was watching me curiously, as if waiting for the punchline to a joke he didn't get. I turned to face the crowd again as 'Become the Monster' took off, and I sang out loud in my own voice — at last.

Gavin Bain (2010), p. 2734

Linguistic Importance of ‘Authenticity’

. . .our goal is to observe the way people use language when they are not being observed. All of our methods involve an approximation to this goal: when we approach from two different directions, and get the same result, we can feel confident that we have reached past the Observer’s Paradox to the structure that exists independently of the analyst.

William Labov (1972), pp. 61-2

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Linguistic Importance of ‘Authenticity’

In its political guise, Romanticism sought to locate the underpinnings of the European nation in the spirit of its people -- particularly the peasants whose culture supposedly remained untouched by urbanity. In its scholarly guise, Romanticism valorized the rural population as the authentic source of traditional cultural knowledge and practice, including language. Dialectology furthered both of these efforts.

Mary Bucholtz (2003), p. 3996

Linguistic Importance of ‘Authenticity’

In fact, my starting point is that sociolinguistics has invested very heavily -- and arguably too heavily -- in the view that some sorts of language and some sorts of speaker are authentic, and that it has thought them more valuable for being more authentic.

Nikolas Coupland (2003), p. 418

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Linguistic Importance of ‘Authenticity’

Playful, ironic, quotative or other ‘performing’ informants have, until recently, been either hard to conceive or easy to ignore in sociolinguistics.

Nikolas Coupland (2003), p. 423

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Linguistic Importance of ‘Authenticity’

The sociolinguistic study of authenticity proposed here therefore has two principal aims. The first is to examine the authenticating practices of language users. The second is to examine the authenticating practices of sociolinguists themselves.

Mary Bucholtz (2003), p. 399

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Special Issue ofDiscourse Studies

November 2001Volume 3, No. 4Special Issue on

Authenticity in Broadcast Talk8 articles

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Linguistic Importance of ‘Authenticity’

It is not so much the authority of the speaker that authenticates the [broadcast news] account. Instead, it is the nature and manner of the talk itself that makes for compelling testimony.

Martin Montgomery (2001), p. 404

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Sociolinguistic Approaches to ‘Authenticity

• Stylisation (relational approach to identity) -- Coupland (2001)

• Linguistics of contact -- Pratt (1987)

• Communities of practice -- Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (1992)

• Language crossing -- Rampton (1995)

• Audience and referee design -- Bell (1984, 2001)

• Act of identity -- LePage and Tabouret-Keller (1985)12

Cultural Importance of ‘Authenticity’

Good music is the authentic expression of something — a person, an idea, a feeling, a shared experience, a Zeitgeist. Bad music is inauthentic — it expresses nothing. The most common term of abuse in rock criticism is 'bland' — bland music has nothing in it and is made only to be commercially pleasing.

Simon Frith (1987), p. 136

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Types of AuthenticityWhen people say a musical performance or recording is authentic, they might refer to representational authenticity, or music that is exactly what it says it is — unlike, say Milli Vanilli posing as signers, where they weren't. They might refer to cultural authenticity, or music that reflects a cultural tradition— the traditional black guitarist and singer Mississippi John Hurt's version of 'Stagger Lee', an old African American song about an outlaw, is more culturally authentic than the Grateful Dead's. They might refer to personal authenticity, or music that reflects the person or people who are making it — when Ozzy Osbourne sings 'Iron Man', he tells us nothing about his own life, but when Loretta Lynn signs 'Coal Miner's Daughter', she tells us a lot.

Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor (2007), p. x (emphasis added)

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Tension between Cultural Authenticity and Personal Authenticity

• On the one hand, the musical performance and cultural authenticity requires a specific type of linguistic performance in order to appear authentic.

- Dusty Springfield or Tom Jones

• On the other hand, individual performers find it artistically difficult to suppress their linguistic and cultural identity and personal authenticity may prevail.

- Robert Plant or Rod Stewart

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Cultural Authenticity

Last night or the night before that,I won't say which night

A seaman friend of mine,I'll not say which seaman,

Walked up to a big old building,I won't say which building,

And would have not walked up the stairs,not to say which stairs,

If there had not been two girls,leaving out the names of those two girls.

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Personal AuthenticityMy seaman buddy and girl moved off

after a couple of pages and there I was,All night long, laying and listening

and forgetting the poems.And as well as I could recall

or my seaman buddy could recollect,The girl had told us that she was a niece,of Walt Whitman, but not which niece,

And it takes a night and a girland a book of this kind

A long long time to find its way back

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Transcultural Flows

‘ways in which cultural forms move, change, and are re-used to fashion new identities in diverse contexts’

Pennycook (2006) Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows

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Transcultural FlowsThe flood of Anglo-American music around the world in the 1950s and 1960s influenced local musicians but did not prevent them from developing their own styles, adapting to their own cultures. The result has been transculturation, where individual music cultures pick up elements from transcultural music — but also some national and local music cultures contribute to transcultural music. The resulting process is characterized by a two-way flow.

Craig Lockard (1998), pp. 49-50

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Language Leaking into Performance Dialects

Peter Trudgill (1983)

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John Lennon and a fan on accent

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Beatles on accent, September 1963

‘I want to play me drums for the Queen’ -- Ringo22

Royal Variety Show, September 1963

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Flow of Language Across Cultural Forms

‘linking and intrusive /r/’

There were birds in the skyBut I never saw them winging

No I never saw them at allTill there was you

The Beatles(Paul McCartney)

‘Till There Was You’

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Transcultural Flows

Acts of Authenticity: Manufacturing Authenticity

Language Culture

Performers

Audience

Performances

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Acts of Authenticity: Manufacturing Authenticity• In the same way that acts of identity may be evaluated

as focussed or diffuse, authenticity may also be evaluated as focussed or diffuse.

• Focussed authenticity: the characteristics that make the language performance authentic are easily identifiable and acknowledged within the community.

• Diffuse authenticity: the authentic characteristics of the performance are not easily identifiable nor widely acknowledged.

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Dengue Fever

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Dengue Fever‘Seeing Hands’

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Love Psychedelico

Love Psychedelico Love Psychedelic Orchestra ©Victor,

2002

Pink Floyd Animals ©Capitol, 1977

The Who Quadrophenia ©MCA, 1973

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Nobuaki, Konuki [小貫信昭]. 歌のなかの言葉の魔法 [Language Magic in Songs]. Tokyo: Yamaha Music Media Corporation, 2003.

この歌 ["Last Smile"] にはまさに、同じ温度感で日本語と英語が混在してる。そこが新しいのだ。両者の間をひょいひょいと見事に行き来している。さらに、それでいて言葉のサーカスにはならず、意味もちゃんとつながっている。[In this song ("Last Smile"), both Japanese and English exist at the same temperature. That is new. (This song) goes back and forth between Japanese and English easily and wonderfully. Moreover, the lyrics don't seem to be a circus of words, but make good sense.] (79)

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Your Song君はまだ全てが想像の style (you are still all in imaginary style)花のようなイメージで fly (fly like an image of flowers)透明な瞳にスレンダー今宵も queen (clear pupils and slender, queen tonight again)得意げなポーズで smile (smile with a favorite pose)

oh sing it to meoh sing it to me終わり無き君の days (endless days of you)oh sing it to meoh sing it to me your songdon't you know?悲しみが呼んでる (sadness is calling)

[yond!lu]

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I Miss You君は sky (you are the sky)夢で fly (fly in a dream)永遠に lie (lie forever)deep inside僕の中愛は die (inside me, love die)

憂いの after (grief after)揺れる mind (wavering mind)泣きたいくらい (like I want to cry)another sight終われない僕の side (unfinishable my side)

I will be nothing to youぬけるような空が (a deep sky)僕を奪って dive (took me and dive)

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Text: 泣きたい　くらいPhonemic Reading: /nakitai k"#ai/Phonetic Reading: [n!kt'ai k'#ai]

Word Translation: want to cry likeEnglish Translation: Like I want to cryAmbiguated Meaning: I want to cry, cry

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Waltzride on, ride 永遠にあった life (eternally existed life)暗・明はありふれた love (darkness and brightness are ordinary love)every time nobody calls my name愛したさ nobody calls my name (I've loved)

on your lips, on your lips行けど無き by your side (I've gone, but not by your side)それは stay 一人浮かんでるわ mind (that is stay, floating alone mind)everywhen please don't close your eyeseverywhen please don't close your eyes

sentence in clouds. . .

and the radio turns on, so I今最愛の君よ good-bye (now dearest you, good-bye)君を今想う見えないくらい (thinking of you now like blind)風になるように sway (sway in the wind)ride on, ride

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Interpreted as ‘Personal Authenticity’

• Kumi’s English is often proclaimed to be as good as her Japanese, and this is often attributed to the ‘fact’ that she is a returnee.

• ‘Psychedelic style’ often attributed to returnee experience in San Francisco in the 1970s.

• In a recent interview with Love Pscyhedelico Kumi acknowledged that she had lived in San Francisco when she was age 2-7 (i.e. 1978-85).

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Cultural Authenticity

• Psychedelic music, at the time that Kumi was living in San Francisco, was probably not the dominant genre available, although it is very much a part of the SF music scene.

• Love Psychedelico are very much a part of a naive ‘hippy movement’ in Japanese pop in the late 1990s.

- Okada Tamio, Puffy, etc.

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Musical Singing Style

• Often compared in the reviews and trade publications as ‘the Japanese Sheryl Crow’.

• Might have influenced the Ting Tings (UK).

• Style of Japanese is very unique, and difficult for most Japanese speakers to even identify as Japanese.

• Difficultly in performing Karaoke, makes similar groups like Superfly more popular than Love Psychedelico.

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‘Returnee’ Style

• Grammar is usually correct, although it may not show the usual sensitivity to style and register requirements.

• A large number of English words, usually not adapted to Japanese usage.

• Stereotypical ‘foreign’ features of pronunciation:

- aspiration of consonants, retroflex of post-vocalic /r/, diphthongization of vowels, etc.

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Authenticity of Returnee Style

• Although this may not be a style that Kumi has personal authenticity with using, she likely does have access to the style and close knowledge of it.

• The cultural authenticity of the style seems to be widely accepted within Japanese culture, suggesting that the influence of English is more than just a single aberration.

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Zee Avi, ‘Zee Avi’ (2009)

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Zee Avi, ‘Honey Bee’ (2009)

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Zee Avi: Cultural Authenticity

• Has not really experienced much success in Malaysia, and does not seem to have tried to find a local route to success.

• Many young Malaysians feel that her use of English is somewhat inauthentic and that she should instead perform in Malay.

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Zee Avi, ‘Kantoi’ (2009)Semalam I call you, you tak answer [last night I call you, you don't answer]You kata you keluar pergi dinner [you said you went out to dinner]You kata you keluar dengan kawan you [you said you went out with your friends ]But when I called Tommy he said it wasn't true

So I drove my car pergi Damansara [to Damansara]Tommy kata maybe you tengok bola [Tommy said maybe you are watching a football match]Tapi bila I sampai, you tak ada [but when I arrived, you were not there]Lagilah I jadi gila! [Of course I became angry]

So I called and called sampai you answer [until]You kata, 'Sorry, sayang. Tadi tak dengar. [You said 'Sorry, darling. I didn't hear the call.]My phone was on silent; I was at the gym'.Tapi latar belakang suara perempuan lain. [But another woman's voice was in the background]

Sudahlah, sayang, I don't believe you [Enough, darling]I've always known that your words were never trueWhy am I with you? I pun tak tahu [I do not know]No wonder-lah my friends pun tak suka you [do not like you]

So I guess that's the end of our storyAkhir kata she accepted his apology [Finally]Tapi last-last kita dapat tahu she was cheating too [But last-last (in the end) we know that]With her ex-boyfriend's best friend...Tommy...

Kantoi

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Personal Authenticity

• Zee Avi notes that the language of ‘Kantoi’ is an authentic language that she uses, and the use of the language within the song is a performance of identity.

• At the same time the other 11 songs, which are not written in mixed code, may represent a sort of performance of a musical genre with cultural authenticity.

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Journey

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Journey

after 1987, or soexit Steve Perry

December 2007enter Arnel Pineda

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Discovered Singing on YouTube©

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Journey

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Style Defined bySteve Perry

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Cultural Authenticity• Little chance for Pineda to express his personal

linguistic identity, which might be represented by Filipino.

• It is more likely, however that the personal authenticity is able to find expression in new material that Journey writes with Pineda.

• Cultural authenticity, in this case, becomes more important to the band, which had become largely irrelevant. The ideology that is presented here values approximation of the original recording.

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Conclusions

• Linguistic authenticity may be measured along these two different axis: cultural and personal.

• While authenticity does not simplify the study of language in popular culture, it allows us to account for some of the interesting contradictions involved in performing music and, to some extent, performing ethnicity.

• Authenticity becomes a ‘value-adding’ feature of the language of popular music.

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Conclusions

• ‘Authenticity’ is implicitly a value judgement: authentic is good, inauthentic is bad.

• Performers are evaluated as ‘authentic’ less often than performances are evaluated.

• Personal and cultural authenticity criteria may very well be taken in opposition to one another.

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Conclusions

• Performers manipulate various factors to authenticate a performance. These may include linguistic factors, musical, visual, personal history, etc.

• Flows of language and culture create complex multilinguistic and multicultural environments in which authenticity may be performed or evaluated.

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Conclusions

• Performances my be conceived not as ‘acts of identity’, but as ‘acts of authenticity’. In this environment authenticity is manufactured by the performer and/or audience.

• The evaluation of authenticity is based on whether or not the manipulated features are focussed or diffuse.

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Authenticity of English in Asian Popular Music

Andrew MoodyUniversity of Macauamoody@umac.mo

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