ABSTRACT
In invoking the Orientalist discourse, John Corbett situates the post-war Asian composers such as Tan Dun and To¯ru Takemitsu in a paradoxical role of simultaneously embracing and subverting an ideology that perpetuates the asymmetrical power relations between the ‘East’ and ‘West’.1 But his statement raises the fundamental question: why should we continue to problematize cultural fusion in art music through the ‘gaze’ of Orientalist rhetoric? In labelling Asian composers neo-Orientalists, Corbett inscribes and essentializes their role as the dominated group that adopts the voice of the dominant group in order to seek legitimacy. Tan Dun and other Asian composers are seen as having adopted new forms of ‘Orientalism’ (in the experimental tradition of John Cage) by legitimizing the prevalent ‘East meets West’ mentality. While alluring in its intellectual claim, Corbett’s position needs to be framed within a broader examination of cultural agencies that have shaped the developments and reception of contemporary music across these geographic boundaries.
