Waves and Forms: Electronic Music Devices and Computer Encodings in China

by Basile Zimmermann

An examination of the relationship between technical objects and culture in contemporary China, drawing on concepts from science and technology studies. Technical objects constrain what users do with them. They are not neutral entities but embody information, choices, values, assumptions, or even mistakes embedded by designers. What happens when a technology is designed in one culture and used in another? What happens, for example, when a Chinese user is confronted by Roman-alphabet-embedded interfaces? In this book, Basile Zimmermann examines the relationship between technical objects and culture in contemporary China, drawing on concepts from science and technology studies (STS). He presents a new theoretical framework for “culture” based on the notions of waves and forms , which provides a powerful descriptive toolkit for technology and culture. The materials Zimmermann uses to develop and illustrate his theoretical arguments come from three groups of case studies about the use of technical devices in today's China. The first and most extensive group consists of observations of electronic music devices in Beijing; the second is a study of a Chinese networking site, “Happy Network”; and the third is a collection of personal, small-scale observations on the way Chinese characters behave when located in alphabet-encoded devices such as mobile phones, web pages, or printed documents. Zimmermann discusses well-known frameworks from STS and combines them with propositions and topics from Chinese studies. Each of the case studies advances his theoretical argument. Zimmermann's account shows how cultural differences can be integrated into STS research, and how sinologists can turn their attention from ancient texts and traditional art to everyday things in present-day China.

Genres: Music

296 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2015

Reviews

[Judd Street · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waves and Forms offers an interesting look into the world of electronic music, of copying and remixing, and of technological affordances. The core of the book uses a series of detailed ethnographic case studies to explore the lifeways of these musicians. Zimmermann tracks their use of technology, their ways of collaborating with other musicians, and even just their daily habits and personalities as influences on their music.

I thought this book offered two strong contributions to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). First, the case studies are particularly rich, vivid, and engaging, and I found myself reenergized in the book once we got to these characters. Zimmerman is highly effective at turning these ethnographic studies into compelling accounts and weaving portraits of these musicians that feel like they're revealing a whole new world. Second, these cases are not just interesting in their own right, but also help to advance STS theory about how we interact with technology. For example, Zimmermann's discussions throughout about how technologies build in particular affordances and limitations in ways that change communication and meaning (e.g., entry of Chinese characters on western keyboards; different approaches to punctuation by different cell phone brands) offer a really interesting, pointed contribution to our understanding of human/technology interactions.

I was left, though, less persuaded by the titular concepts. I found that we never got a really clear, operationalized definition of what 'waves' and 'forms' are. While Zimmermann references the terms throughout, because they never really get pinned down, I really struggled to figure out what, exactly, they add to our analysis that we don't just get from his excellent case studies. After reading the book, I'm not sure - for example - that I'd actually be able to apply these theories/concepts to another problem, or to be able to meaningfully articulate what Zimmerman meant by them.

Overall, if you have a strong interest in either electronic music production or Sinology, it would be well worth a read!