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book: Language Rights in a Changing China
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Language Rights in a Changing China

A National Overview and Zhuang Case Study
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2021
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Contributions to the Sociology of Language [CSL]

About this book

Joshua A. Fishman Award winner 2018

China has had constitutional minority language rights for decades, but what do they mean today? Answering with nuance and empirical detail, this book examines the rights through a sociolinguistic study of Zhuang, the language of China’s largest minority group. The analysis traces language policy from the Constitution to local government practices, investigating how Zhuang language rights are experienced as opening or restricting socioeconomic opportunity. The study finds that language rights do not challenge ascendant marketised and mobility-focused language ideologies which ascribe low value to Zhuang. However, people still value a Zhuang identity validated by government policy and practice.

Rooted in a Bourdieusian approach to language, power and legal discourse, this is the first major publication to integrate contemporary debates in linguistics about mobility, capitalism and globalization into a study of China’s language policy.

The book refines Grey’s award-winning doctoral dissertation, which received the Joshua A. Fishman Award in 2018. The judges said the study “decenter[s] all types of sociolinguistic assumptions." It is a thought-provoking work on minority rights and language politics, relevant beyond China.

Author / Editor information

Alexandra Grey, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

Topics

  • Publicly Available

    Frontmatter

    I
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    Preface

    VII
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  • Publicly Available

    Contents

    XI
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    List of Figures

    XV
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  • Publicly Available

    List of Tables

    XVII
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  • Part I: Foundations
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    1 An ethnographic study of contemporary Chinese language rights

    1
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    2 What is Zhuang? A critical sociolinguistic profile

    34
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  • Part II: Laws and Governance Structures
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    3 The foundational language rights: Legal provisions about minority languages and minority peoples

    67
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    4 Beliefs about law and language

    83
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    5 The structural distribution of language governance powers

    107
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  • Part III: Lived Linguistic Landscapes
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    6 Visual ideologies of Zhuang in linguistic landscapes

    141
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    7 New semiotic displays of old “Zhuangness”

    187
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    8 The multiple meanings of Zhuang displays in lived landscapes

    218
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    9 Linguascaping through language policy

    251
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  • Part IV: Conclusions
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    10 Summary and conclusions regarding language rights in a changing China

    275
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    11 General implications for language rights and policy research and practice

    294
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    Appendix

    305
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    Acknowledgements

    313
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    References

    315
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    Index

    337
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
May 10, 2021
eBook ISBN:
9781501512551
Hardcover published on:
May 10, 2021
Hardcover ISBN:
9781501517747
Paperback published on:
December 19, 2022
Paperback ISBN:
9781501521003
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Front matter:
18
Main content:
342
Illustrations:
6
Coloured Illustrations:
53
Tables:
4
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501512551
eBook ISBN: 9781501512551
Hardcover ISBN: 9781501517747
Paperback ISBN: 9781501521003
Keywords for this book
Minority Languages; Language Policy; Ethnography; Zhuang
Audience(s) for this book
Researchers and Students
Safety & product resources
Manufacturer information:
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Genthiner Straße 13
10785 Berlin
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com
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