The ideological framing of ‘dialect’: an analysis of mainland China's state media coverage of ‘dialect crisis’ (2002–2012)

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that analysed the ideological framing of ‘Chinese dialects’ or ‘regional Chinese varieties’ in the mainland China's state print media reports of ‘dialect crisis’ and the associated efforts to sustain the use of these ‘dialects’ from 2002 to 2012. The analysis revealed that regional Chinese varieties were portrayed as essential to enriching individual citizens' cultural experiences and maintaining cultural diversity. They were found to have been closely related to individual users' identification with particular social groups. Meanwhile, business corporations reportedly have used individuals' growing identification with regional varieties to pursue commercial interests while state institutions have relied on it to propagate messages more effectively. These findings indicate that the rising importance of individual citizens obliges the state to accommodate their rights and business corporations to satisfy their demands, which is likely to have a profound impact on the vitality of regional Chinese varieties in China.