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Fascinated by the verbal pageantry of Taiwanese elections, Jennifer Wei examines the impact of electioneers' implicit and oblique rhetoric. Far from mere linguistic embellishment, the power of allusion, metaphor, and innuendo help construct political realities and break with old and obsolete cultural practices. But at what cost? The book describes, in detail, how genuine dialogic discussion in politics has suffered under the yoke of populist symbols and how popular culture infuses the political vocabulary of modern-day Taiwan. Wei's revealing study juxtaposes the sophisticated use of language tools against a backdrop of rapid political change in Taiwan, from one-party domination to multi-party succession. This work will be essential to scholars of East Asian studies interested in language, politics, and cultural practice.
Jennifer M. Wei argues that construction and perceptions of language and identity parallel sociopolitical transformations, and language and identity crises arise during power transitions. Under these premises, language and identity are never well-defined or well-bounded. Instead, they are best viewed as political symbols subject to manipulation and exploitation during socio-historical upheavals. A choice of language—from phonological shibboleth, Mandarin, or Taiwanese, to choice of official language—cuts to the heart of contested cultural notions of self and other, with profound implications for nationalism, national unity and ethno-linguistic purism. Wei further argues that because of the Chinese Diaspora and Taiwan's connections to China and the United States, arguments and sentiments over language choice and identity have consequences for Taiwan's international and transnational status. They are symbolic acts of imagining Taiwan's past as she looks forward to the future.
This original volume provides the first state-of-the-art overview of research on pronouns in the 21st century. With its dedicated sections on grammar, history, and change, language learning/acquisition, cognition and comprehension, power, politics, and identity, The Routledge Handbook of Pronouns shows that contemporary interest in pronouns and gender represents just the tip of the iceberg. Led by Laura Paterson, a transdisciplinary collection of experts discuss the global history of different pronoun systems, synthesize the literature, and contextualize the salient issues and current debates shaping research on pronouns across different spheres and via different theoretical-methodological t...
New Media Language brings leading media figures and scholars together to debate the shifting relations between today's media and contemporary language. From newspapers and television to email, the Internet and text messaging, there are ever increasing media conduits for news. This book investigates how developments in world media have affected, and been affected by, language. Exploring a wide range of topics, from the globalization of communication to the vocabulary of terrorism and the language used in the wake of September 11, New Media Language looks at the important and wide-ranging implications of these changes. From Malcolm Gluck on wine writing, to Naomi Baron on email, the authors provide authoritative and engaging insights into the ways in which language is changing, and in turn, changes us. With a foreword by Simon Jenkins, New Media Language is essential reading for anyone with an interest in today's complex and expanding media.
What happens when language wars are not about hurling insults or quibbling over meanings, but are waged in the physical sounds and shapes of language itself? Native and foreign speakers, mother tongues and national languages, have jostled for distinction throughout the modern period. The fight for global dominance between the English and Chinese languages opens into historical battles over the control of the medium through standardization, technology, bilingualism, pronunciation, and literature in the Sinophone world. Encounters between global languages, as well as the internal tensions between Mandarin and other Chinese dialects, present a dynamic, interconnected picture of languages on the...
Surviving Through Obliqueness Language Of Politics In Emerging Democracies
Offers a wide-ranging overview of the issues and research approaches in the diverse field of applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field that identifies, examines, and seeks solutions to real-life language-related issues. Such issues often occur in situations of language contact and technological innovation, where language problems can range from explaining misunderstandings in face-to-face oral conversation to designing automated speech recognition systems for business. The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics includes entries on the fundamentals of the discipline, introducing readers to the concepts, research, and methods used by applied linguists working i...