"The Sound of Exile makes a critical new contribution to the literature of modern Jewish history, Jewish musical life during the Shoah, diaspora studies, and the study of Jewish communities in Asia. . . . His sensitivity to Shanghai’s cosmopolitan culture and its transformation at several stages, including the most recent decades in which an intense awareness of Jewish history shapes the culture also of twenty-first-century Shanghai, is extraordinary."—Philip Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish History and Music, University of Chicago
Description
Combining diaspora studies and ethnomusicology, The Sound of Exile: European Jewish Refugees in Shanghai, 1938–1947 by Tang Yating examines how Central European Jewish refugees employed music as a means of reconstructing cultural identity amid turmoil and displacement in Shanghai. From orchestral arrangements and cabarets to traditional synagogue liturgy, music served as the common thread weaving together the history of Jewish life, thought, and exile. Navigating a Shanghai that was embroiled in its own complicated history and the intricate politics marking its settlements and concessions, the Jewish refugee community made music that embraced survival, salvation, and after the war, gratitude for the city most would leave behind.
The Sound of Exile highlights this diasporic musical life by exploring neglected archival documents. Analyzing these sources alongside ephemeral material such as memoir fragments, news reports, flyers, advertisements, tickets for performances, and more, the text revives the little-known communities Jewish refugees created to support themselves artistically and spiritually. The result is a book that brings Shanghai Jewish musical history to life.
About the Author
Tang Yating is professor emeritus at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In addition to Musical Life of Shanghai Jewish Communities: 1850–1950, 1998–2005, he has published three books, all in Chinese: Variations of Imperial Diasporas: A History of the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra, 1879–1949; Ethnomusicology: Ideological Trends and Methodology; and Urban Soundscapes.
May 2025