Dr Lei (Nada) Peng PhD

How has the cultural phenomenon of Chinese rock music shaped the identity of a Chinese woman scholar and influenced wider Chinese society? What does Chinese rock reveal about global power structures and their interconnectedness?

Drawing on her lived experiences, author Lei (Nada) Peng embarks on a journey as a Chinese rock listener and researcher between mainland China, France, and the United Kingdom. Bridging scholarly analysis with personal narrative, Interrogating Chinese Rock examines how rock—a Western genre—is reimagined within China’s shifting socio-political landscape. It reveals the interplay between Chinese rock music, Chinese social transformation, global power structures, and her personal identity, framing music as a site of resistance, mystification, and self-discovery.

Peng argues that the evolution of Chinese rock cannot be separated from global dynamics shaped by Western hegemony, cultural imperialism, and the legacies of colonial history. Alongside this, she reflects on how both Chinese rock and her own transnational experiences have shaped a cross-cultural identity that defies rigid categorisation.

Addressing issues of gender, race, class, consumerism, patriarchy, and cultural hegemony, this autoethnographic work is essential reading for students and scholars in Cultural Anthropology, Transcultural Studies, Sociology of Music, China Studies, Asian Studies, Women’s Studies, and related social sciences.

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