The Politics of Language in Hong Kong

This book investigates the politics of language in Hong Kong from a multidisciplinary perspective, showcasing original studies on language use in protest movements, written Cantonese, language attitudes, literary creation, mass media, and popular music. Representing the work of scholars of various disciplines ranging from political science and history to linguistics, communication, and cultural studies, the book offers a multifaceted and timely account on the state of language in the rapidly changing city. Proposing a conceptual framework that distinguishes between language politics and the language of politics, it effectively underscores the importance of identity and ideology in studying the politics of language across different settings and disciplines. As a study of the language issue in Hong Kong, this book is a valuable resource for scholars and students of Hong Kong studies and Chinese studies and to researchers of sociolinguistics and the politics of language.

Jean-François Dupré is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Université TÉLUQ, Canada.

1. Conceptualizing the Politics of Language in Hong Kong 2. Ideologically driven divergence in Cantonese vernacular writing practices 3. Cantonese as a Protest Language in Hong Kong-1967, 2014, and 2019 4. One city, whose languages? Changing language attitudes in Hong Kong 5. Decolonization of the mind: the politics of translanguaging and post-2019 Hong Kong English poetry 6. The Use of Name-Calling in Social Movements: Evidence from Hong Kong's Anti-ELAB Movement 7. Representing New Hongkongers in Newspapers: A Corpus-based Study 8. Two Tales of a City: a Digital Investigation of Tat Ming Pair and Beyond in Pre-Handover Hong Kong