Revitalization of Fangyan Through Social Media Promotion in China

Zhijuan Ni,Jia Li,Yu Zhang,Zhiying Wang,Haiyan Guo

doi:10.5539/ass.v18n3p1

Abstract

Compared to Putonghua, Fangyan is often indexed with social stereotypes such as lack of education, uncivilization and low-class. However, such negative indexicality of speaking Fangyan has been challenged by the emerging circulation of diverse social media online. Adopting the concept of language as commodity in late capitalism (Heller, 2010), this study examines how Fangyan is constructed and promoted as an index of authenticity and authority, a source of knowledge dissemination and commodified capital. The study argues that the revitalization of Fangyan from below cannot be simply reduced to the celebratory discourse of cultural diversity but should be understood in a wider discourse of language as profit which is subordinated to the power and social relations. The study can shed lights on the promotion of linguistic diversity and intercultural communication.

Highlights

The traditional conceptualization of speaking Fangyan are considered as "low prestige" or carrying some negative meanings
Focusing on the participants’ language practice in the “1.3 Billion Decibel” show, this paper offers a nuanced account of the commodification of Fangyan, and the tensions of languages under the Putonghua promotion policy
By 2018, 1.3 Billion Decibel had been streamed 300 million times, and nearly 3 million people had live-streamed it online (Gu, 2018). Because it is the first show make a successful combination of Fangyan and social media and it gains a high attention from audience in China, the show appears to stand with potential to be proceeded with

Summary

Introduction

The traditional conceptualization of speaking Fangyan are considered as "low prestige" or carrying some negative meanings. Dong found that people think that speaking in Fangyan is "unpleasant" and "funny", and Fangyans are even abnormalized (Dong, 2014). Such negative indexicality of speaking Fangyan has been challenged by the new configuration of speaking Fangyan as resource/commodity. Given the visibility and audibility of Fangyan has been observed, the ways to protect and revitalize it should be concerned, and one of which is to make a combination of social media and Fangyan (Cao, 2017; Spitulnik, 1999). There is still lack of empirical studies on how Fangyan is capitalized through the social media promotion in China, and lack of a holistic and comprehensive view of the ways how Fangyan and Putonghua are represented. The study hopes to shed light on the complex roles for Fangyan, and to contribute to the language protection and linguistic diversity globally

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion