Abstract:

In this article, which examines the introduction of Western music into East Asian cultures, Western music reforms were analyzed in the light of historical facts and in the framework of modernization and westernization hegemony. The social reforms which are appeared as a must against the threats of Western powers, are shaped by a cultural hegemony, which is fundamentally based on the assumption of the West is superior. In this pe- riod, music, which is an important tool in terms of representation of the society in Western style as well as the propagation of new values, are stud- ied on the basis of the relation built between technological superiority and cultural superiority. Musical reforms, which started from Japan and spread to the surrounding countries, is a process that traditional music culture is designed according to Western music, whose superiority is based on the claims that it is scientific, and again traditional music, which is seen primi- tive, is tried to united with Western look by way of synthesis. In this pro- cess, while Japan becoming a model, one of its influenced countries, Korea defined music again, and China experienced different reform processes based on opposing ideologies. As a result, the Western music hegemony, which took hold of similar societies, made impossible to interpret the last century of these musical cultures, without considering this effect.

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