Sociolinguistics Symposium 19
Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012
Programme: accepted abstracts
Abstract ID: 467
Part of Session 165: Language, Place and Identity (Other abstracts in this session)
Ala Zanghai Nin: Stylizing Cosmopolitan-ness in a Post-colonial Chinese City
Authors: Diao, Wenhao (1); Cui, Jie (2)
Submitted by: Diao, Wenhao (Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America)
Our paper studies the stylization of a cosmopolitan Shanghainese identity through using ala zanghai nin (“us Shanghai people” in Shanghainese) in discourse. By examining excerpts from a popular stage show performed primarily in Shanghainese, we explore the link between language, place, and the “imagined” cosmopolitan identity in a city that is historically associated with the West and is today a symbol of globalization in China.
China has undergone complex transformations since its Open-Door policy in 1979. The state’s nation-building project in globalization emphasizes a homogenous identity through promoting standardized Mandarin (Putonghua) and popularizing English education, which leads to marginalization of regional varieties of Chinese (Graddol, 2009). The massive migration and enormous foreign investment further complicate the sociolinguistic situation. Though still scant, research on Chinese languages has shown tension between the local, national, and global. For instance, Zhang (e.g. 2005) has shown phonological features in Beijing Mandarin are now associated with an out-fashioned identity in the workplace. Other researchers, however, have demonstrated borrowing from local varieties allows the construction of a youth identity (e.g., Liu, 2010).
Situated within this context, our paper studies the link between the local discourse and identity in today’s urban China where the processes of migration, globalization, and standardization intersect. We ask how the local identity is discursively constructed and is connected to a cosmopolitan lifestyle in big cities. We focus on Shanghai because it attracts huge numbers of migrants but meanwhile its local language lacks mutual comprehensibility with Putonghua. In addition, the emergence of Shanghai was a fairly recent and unique phenomenon. Coming into shape about three centuries ago as a colony, Shanghai is still best known for its Bund that features Western style architectures built in the early 20th century.
Our study draws upon research on “stylization” (Coupland, 2007; Auer, 2007), i.e., the discursive use of stereotyped images and values associated with types of people, social group, and situations. In this study we examine how the comedian uses ala zanghai nin in his 150-minute stage show to discursively stylize a consistently fashionable and Westernized lifestyle of Shanghai over the past thirty years since China’s Open-Doors.
Our study suggests that ala zanghai nin serves as an alternative to Putonghua and the cosmopolitan style is connected to Shanghai’s colonial past. The findings will have implications for us to better understand the relationship between the local and global in today’s China, and the connection between language and place in post-colonial cities in globalization.
References:
Auer, P. (Ed.), (2007). Style and social identities: Alternative approaches to linguistic heterogeneity. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Coupland, N. (2007). Style: Language variation and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Graddol, David. (2006). English next. London: British Council. Available for free from the website of the British Council.
Liu, J. (2010). Deviant writing and youth identity: Representation of dialects with Chinese characters on the Internet. Chinese Language and Discourse, 1(2), 183–219.
Zhang, Q. (2005). A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity. Language in Society, 34(3), 431-466.