Okay, we know this is asking for trouble, but then even Chuck Norris apologizes to Master Lee, so I guess he doesn’t need to care… Now, what is a self-orientalising song? And why does Master Lee like to discuss them? Well, it seems that ever since a recording industry developed in Korea, Koreans have sometimes tried to sell their uniqueness by singing in a specific way and using specific words in order to make the performer and the culture he/she represents come across as cute and/or sensual, as emotional and spiritual – rather than rational – and exotic. It is a way of appealing to those who like to generalize one’s culture, and often in ways that are not particularly positive, but emphasize (unrealistically) unique “qualities”: the image created has little to do with the culture of the performer at all, and may connote that of a vaguely related culture instead. Self-orientalism is usually a way of selling oneself or one’s products to those who would otherwise O/orientalise (the smaller “o” having been introduced by Jennifer Robertson in her wonderful study Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Modern Japan (1998) as a form of Orientalism practiced by Japan – often considered a 1st-world nation – towards other Asian cultures), but one should be careful not to regard the phenomenon as applying only to East-West binaries (see, for example, Xiaomei Chen, Occidentalism: A Theory of Counter-Discourse in Post-Mao China (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995). Considering expressions of colonial superiority and O/orientalism often entail a patronising view of another culture in ways that mirror (and express) the traditional gender divide (read: the oppression or abuse of women), would it also apply to women highlighting their femininity in front of Others? Possibly, though Master Lee does not take kindly on too facile adoptions of gender-based notions of power… (Master Lee only fears one thing in life: his wife…). It has particularly suited acts that catered to majorities of non-Koreans, such as the Kim Sisters. Interesting is that they may have represented a form of positivist occidentalism to Koreans, and by this Master Lee means a way of looking up to the West in the belief that the Koreans have the potential to emulate its socio-economic conditions. It is nevertheless more likely that they catered to the romantic Orientalism – or, in other words, the generalising view that Western and Korean culture are radically and incomparably different and that Korean culture has its own merits, rationality not being one of them – of their non-Korean audiences. Fortunately, there are not many such songs Master Lee can think of, though the Kim Sisters’ single ‘Ching Chang’ (Epic 5-9312, composed by E. Shuman and M. Garson) is a great example. What were they thinking…?

Other songs by the Kim Sisters that ought to feature on one such list are ‘China Nights/Shina no yoru‘ (Eisenburg, Leeds Music ASCAP) and ‘Chinese Lullaby’ (Helen Sapolin, Combine Music BMI). These two songs were included on the Kim Sisters’ album The Kim Sisters: Their First Album (Monument MLP 8022). Master Lee would like to hear your comments and would really appreciate your suggestions! Please? (NB: Master Lee rarely says “please”…)