Culture versus the State? The “Defend-My-Mother-Tongue” Protests in Guangzhou

Ho, Wing-Chung; Lu, Jianwei

doi:10.1086/699253

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Amid this growing nationalism, Mandarin, the national language, became an important instrument for ‘upholding national unity and ethnic solidarity’, as was written in the 2000 Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language ( National People’s Congress of China , 2000). Before the nationwide promotion of Mandarin was cemented in state law, the Guangdong government had already, in 1992, issued a ‘Decision to Vigorously Promote Mandarin’, specifying that ‘by the end of 1995, Mandarin should become the only language used in primary and middle schools and that kindergarten teachers should just use Mandarin so as to develop students’ habit of speaking Mandarin earlier in childhood’ (Ho and Lu, 2019: 82). The results were disastrous for local language: a 2004 survey found that Mandarin had become the prime language of younger generations (aged 39 years or below) living in Guangzhou (capital city of Guangdong) for most formal and informal occasions, except in family settings (Ho and Lu, 2019).…”

Section: Critical Han Studies and Internal Colonialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Han Studies Through the Lens of Internal Colonialism: China, Guangdong, and Hong Kong

2023

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When the concept of ‘internal colonialism’ has been applied to China, it has often been focused on the plight of ethnic minorities. The political and cultural subordination of non-Mandarin Han groups, however, has drawn little attention. We argue that critical Han studies, by posing a challenge to the state ideology of Han ethnic unitarism, provides a theoretical arsenal capable of broadening the application of the internal colonialism framework to the study of non-Mandarin Han groups and regions in China. To provide empirical support for our argument, we examine ethno-geographic representation among Chinese political elites. We find an internal heterogeneity and ethnic hierarchy between different Han groups who have integrated into the political ruling class of China, which is dominated by the Mandarins, to various extents: the Wu people of Shanghai and Zhejiang represent the top layer of the hierarchy; the Xiang of Hunan, the Hokkien of Fujian, and the Gan of Jiangxi constitute the intermediate layer; and the Cantonese and the Teochew of Guangdong belong to the bottom layer. These findings provide the basis for our discussion of internal colonization in China with a specific focus on Guangdong and Hong Kong.

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Section: Critical Han Studies and Internal Colonialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Han Studies Through the Lens of Internal Colonialism: China, Guangdong, and Hong Kong

2023

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“…This initiative has, however, fueled discontent and conflicts between local residents and the government (Chen et al, 2020;Gransow, 2014). Second, urbanization in Guangzhou has diminished the geopolitical significance and dominant position of the local Canton culture and traditions, prompting the local urbanites to develop antagonistic tendencies against migrants (Ho and Lu, 2018). Guangzhou has been the cultural hub for Canton culture and the ancestral home of the Cantonese people (or Yue culture) for over 2,200 years.…”

Section: Context and Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, urbanite identity in Guangzhou is inseparable from the Canton culture. However, massive rural-to-urban migration as a result of state-led urbanization has not only reshaped the demographic composition of the city but has also changed its language and sociocultural environment as well as its socio-spatial environment as many historical buildings and old neighborhoods were demolished to provide space for new infrastructure developments (Gransow, 2014; Ho and Lu, 2018). Such dramatic spatial reconfiguration and the dislocation experience has made many local Guangzhou residents powerless and angry due the loss of sense of belonging in their home city.…”

Section: Context and Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result of rapid urbanization and the ongoing rural-to-urban migration, the Chinese market has become increasingly diverse and complex in terms of changing consumer demographic profiles and their associated consumption preferences and practices (Wang and Tian, 2014). While urban expansion spurs regional economic growth and improves the living standard and income of urban residents (Morgan Stanley, 2019), the resulting rural−urban encounters also create social tensions and identity conflicts due to cultural differences in habits, norms and practices (Göregenli et al , 2016; Tang et al , 2020) and other institutional factors such as unequal access to political and economic resources (Ho and Lu, 2018). Thus, direct exposure to these differences (Levy and Zaltman, 1975) may engender consumer agency, which pressures both migrant and local consumers to adapt to each other and negotiate their territorial claims, status hierarchy and (collective) identities through consumption choices (Lam et al , 2020; Veresiu and Giesler, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissociative fashion practices and identity conflicts: local resistance as a response to clothing acculturation in the context of rural–urban migration

Lam¹,

Liu³

2021

JFMM

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PurposeThe purpose of the present study is to examine how local consumers disassociate themselves from migrants' acculturative practices and negotiate their identity through the symbolic consumption of fashion.Design/methodology/approachData for this interpretive study were obtained via phenomenological interviews with locally-born Chinese youth in Guangzhou, China, to examine their acculturative consumption practices as well as their subjective experiences of perceived threats to their lifestyle imposed by the influx of outsiders. Snowballing and purposive sampling methods were adopted in recruiting the research participants.FindingsData analyses revealed that local consumers adopt three dissociative strategies (stigmatization, avoidance and self-assertion) in order to ascribe meanings to their fashion consumption practices as a means of resolving identity conflicts and differentiate themselves from the migrant consumers.Research limitations/implicationsThis research offers a single perspective (i.e. that of local-born young consumers residing in Guangzhou) on the locals' attitudes aimed at distinguishing and negotiating their identities in an intercultural setting via specific fashion-clothing choices. This research has theoretical implications for the consumer acculturation theory and identity negotiation.Practical implicationsFindings yielded by the present study have important implications for commercial companies focusing on fashion consumption, in particular for marketing practices aimed at rural-urban identification and youth market segmentation.Social implicationsThis study contributes to the existing discussion on consumer acculturation by offering an intracultural perspective to the understanding of local consumers' responses to migrants' acculturation. It also provides managerial insights for fashion retailers, prompting them to rethink their market segmentation strategies to address population mobility in the marketplace and better understand how it alters the in-between social relationships that result in different consumption patterns and practices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing discussion on youth consumer acculturation theories by offering an intercultural perspective to the understanding of local consumers' responses to migrants' acculturation attempts. It also offers managerial insights for fashion retailers, prompting them to rethink their market segmentation strategies to address population mobility and better understand how it alters the social relationships that result in different consumption patterns and practices.

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“…This movement brought a government retreat on use of Putonghua in media, but a study based on interviews determined that the movement was mainly about local resident concerns around "the current pattern in the distribution of resources in Guangzhou," that is, the unsubstantiated "sentiment that they are disadvantaged in obtaining school places, jobs, or hospital beds" compared to migrants. Many movement participants were not Cantonese speakers, and language was a focus mainly in order to render the protest about resources "safe" in relation to the authorities (Ho and Lu, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Today in Guangzhou, Tomorrow in Hong Kong? A Comparative Study of the Language Situation in Two Cities

Sautman

Xie

2020

Journal of Current Chinese Affairs

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Many in Hong Kong voice concerns about the fate of Cantonese, including nativists (“localists”) and the general public. Guangzhou is seen as a harbinger of diminishing Cantonese in Hong Kong. News and commentaries paint a gloomy picture of Cantonese in Guangzhou. Yet rarely do we read about surveys on the range of Cantonese use and identity in Guangzhou. Neither do we see analyses on how the social context differences between Hong Kong and Guangzhou may have contributed to the two cities’ unique language situations. Our study delineates the Guangzhou and Hong Kong language situations, comparing mother tongues, ordinary languages, and language attitudes. Cantonese is unrivalled in Hong Kong and remains vital in Guangzhou. We put the two cities’ different use frequency and proficiency of Cantonese and Putonghua (“Mandarin”) in the sociocultural context of motivation and migration. We conclude that some claims of diminishing Cantonese are unsupported. We also address how likely it is that Cantonese will diminish or even be replaced in Hong Kong.

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Culture versus the State? The “Defend-My-Mother-Tongue” Protests in Guangzhou

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

Critical Han Studies Through the Lens of Internal Colonialism: China, Guangdong, and Hong Kong

Critical Han Studies Through the Lens of Internal Colonialism: China, Guangdong, and Hong Kong

Dissociative fashion practices and identity conflicts: local resistance as a response to clothing acculturation in the context of rural–urban migration

Today in Guangzhou, Tomorrow in Hong Kong? A Comparative Study of the Language Situation in Two Cities

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