Chronotopes of Sound: Soviet Accordion and Argentine Bandoneón in China’s Musical Landscape

Abstract This paper examines the divergent fates of the Soviet accordion and the Argentine bandoneón in China’s musical landscape, analyzing how historical, ideological, and institutional factors influenced their reception. While the Soviet accordion was embraced and institutionalized as a symbol of proletarian culture through state-sponsored education and propaganda during the Maoist era, the bandoneón remained an exotic curiosity, never achieving widespread acceptance. Through the lenses of Bakhtin’s chronotope, Peircean and Agha’s concept of indexicality, and sound anthropology’s soundscape theory, the study demonstrates how the Soviet accordion became embedded in the soundscape of socialist China, acquiring second-order indexicality as a symbol of collective ideology. Conversely, the bandoneón’s limited exposure and lack of institutional patronage prevented it from acquiring comparable cultural meaning. This comparative analysis highlights the critical role of ideological fit, institutional pathways, and public soundscapes in determining whether foreign musical practices are localized or marginalized in new cultural contexts.