Dissertation Index
Author: Ma, Yiqing Title: Theorizing Vocal Timbre and Gendered Expression in Japanese Popular Music Institution: University of Michigan Begun: September 2020 Completed: October 2025 Abstract: This dissertation traces how “feminine” voices evolve, challenge, and respond to shifting understandings of gender performance in Japan’s post-bubble economy. In dialogue with feminist music theory, I examine the gendered and sociocultural meanings of vocal timbre in contemporary Japanese popular music (J-pop). I argue that voice reflects how gender is constructed, negotiated, and renewed. Through analyses of gendered vocal expressions—various forms of gender performance communicated through both speech and song—I explore issues of womanhood, androgyny, technology, queer listening, and the body in recent Japanese rock, singer-songwriter music, and techno-pop. Building on the works of Kate Heidemann (2016), Victoria Malawey (2020) and Michèle Duguay (2022), I develop a framework of gendered and queer listening to interrogate the intersections of voice, agency, and technology. The introduction provides a historical overview of Japanese popular music and media in relation to gender norms, positioning subjective positions at the center of feminist music theory. The first chapter proposes a theoretical model that foregrounds gendered and encultured meaning in vocal analysis, as visualized in vocal profile. This approach explores the cultural and gender significance of musical and vocal timbre by engaging with archival materials and ethnographic notes. It illuminates a novel methodology for analyzing timbre perception systematically. The second chapter delves into singer-songwriter Shiina Ringo and the evolution of her gendered vocal expressions, from “Tsumi to batsu” (2000) to “Carnation” (2008). It shows a multi-faceted womanhood embodied in her vocal agility. The third chapter explores androgynous vocal expressions, as “soft masculinity” in Miura Daichi’s cover of “Suberidai” (2018) and “cool femininity” in Aimyon and Suda Masaki’s “Kisu dake de” (2019), via both vocal and linguistic code-switching. The final chapter explores the entangled relation between the body and machine, examining gender bias within Vocaloid technology in cover singing practice. Yoasobi’s “Idol” (2023), in particular, promotes a cyborgian construction of perfectionist girlhood that serves as a fetishization yet transcends the boundaries of what is considered “bodily” or “Japanese.” Keywords: timbre, voice, J-pop, feminist music theory, Japanese music theory, vocaloid, femininity, androgyny, Sheena Ringo TOC: Chapter 1 Embodying Timbre Chapter 2 Shiina Ringo’s Multivocality Chapter 3 Soft Masculinity, Cool Femininity Chapter 4 Vocaloidized Voices, Porous Voices: Girlhood in the Digital Age Contact: Yiqing Ma, yqm@umich.edu |