Discursive practices and power structure: person‐referring forms and sociopolitical struggles in colonial Vietnam

Abstract

This study examines the diverse pragmatic implications of identical Vietnamese person‐referring forms in relation to class‐structured opposition in colonial Vietnam. In relation to social theory, it is proposed that, at least in the Vietnamese case, the diversity of discursive practices not only indexes social differentiation, but also constitutes an integral part of class‐structured ideological opposition, and that class struggle is intricately linked to the struggle over discursive practices and linguistic meanings. The diverse pragmatic implications of identical linguistic forms underlies the ambiguity in both the use and meanings of these forms, not merely in the native speaker's extra‐linguistic information but also in his/her knowledge of language.