1. What was the protest? If it was part of a
larger movement, where are you drawing the boundaries (geographical,
chronological, legislative, etc.) around your project?
The
protest was a gathering of locals in the city of GuangZhou, the capital of
GuangDong Province (AKA Canton). The particular event in reference took place
on Sunday, 25, 2010 and locals held up signs in a public square spreading the
discontent over the CPPCC’s proposal suggesting an increase in the use of
Mandarin Chinese in television broadcasts in the region. Although this event
was relatively small and rather uncovered by media, it is part of a bigger
movement that has been responding to the change in cultural distribution and
power in the GuangDong Province since Hong Kong’s return to the Chinese
government in 1997. Prior to this, Hong Kong was under British and Portuguese
control for around 150 years and, as such, was under a different cultural
influence (Yu). Over those years, Hong Kong, and the surrounding areas have
formed an identity including the prevalence of English, Cantonese, and western
influence. Post-1997 Hong Kong and surrounding areas have faced cultural threat
as the influence of the Mainland Chinese government has grown. As such, the
boundaries of the protest include the province of GuangDong and surrounding
areas that have Cantonese influence.
2. Why do you believe that this identity is
tied to this protest in a significant way? For whom is this tie significant?
The
protest is quite clearly a question of cultural and historical identity through
the Cantonese language. It is a significant attribute to Cantonese speakers in the
GuangDong region who have a sense of culture and heritage tied to this
identity. To many people, the language lies in their roots, in their hometown,
and hopefully, in their futures. The change with growing Mandarin influence is
thus threatening to something so dear as one’s mother tongue.
3. How did the group you’re looking at
participate in the protest?
The
nature of the participation in the protest was very physical. Locals in support
of upholding Cantonese Language and traditional language practices in the media
placed their bodies in a physical public space and used their presence as a
method of dispersion of their message. This is also the same for similar
protest related to this issue, including a demonstration held by gamers
outraged over the lack of a unique Cantonese version of Pokémon Sun and Moon (Cooper). The protest in that instance was
also a physical stance with locals holding up signs and chanting messages of disapproval.
4. When you think about this project, what
are you worried or concerned about? Do your worries have anything to do
specifically with whether you can tie your identity to the protest clearly? Are
there questions that you think it will be hard to answer? Do you have
methodological concerns? What part of this project do you think will be the
most difficult for you?
It
is clear to me that the protest, as a single object, is speaking out against
the threat on the Cantonese language. However, this may be better placed as a
component of a bigger protest against central Chinese governmental control over
Hong Kong. I am concerned about finding scholarly articles on these smaller
protests focused on the language aspect. Most sources that I have encountered
thus far have come from popular news sources or translated, vague articles with
no details about the location of the demonstrations or details about the
effect. This may be accounted for due to the powerful nature of Mainland
Chinese censorship of sensitive topics in the media. This will be the greatest obstacle,
finding hard evidence and scholarly description of this aspect of the Cantonese
language.
Works Cited
Yu, Xin. "Cantonese Protests Spread." Radio Free
Asia. Trans. Luisetta Mudie. Rfa.org, 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.
Cooper, Daniel. "Hong Kong Pokémon Fans Protest over
Pikachu Translation." Engaget. AOL Tech Company, 31 May 2016. Web. 12 Oct.
2016.4
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