TY - JOUR
T1 - The legacy of literacy practices in colonial Taiwan. Japanese-Taiwanese-Chinese
T2 - Language interaction and identity formation
AU - Heylen, Ann
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - This paper offers a historical and sociolinguistic interrogation of Taiwanese to demonstrate the significance of language continuum in relation to identity formation. To this end, Taiwanese is discussed as a particular variety of language. Literacy practices in the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945) are contrasted with the precolonial and post-Japanese colonial period. The paper maintains that policies of Japanese linguistic colonialism strengthened the sociosemiotic cohesion amongst speakers of Taiwanese, and discusses how this experience resonated with the new reality after Japanese colonial rule in 1945 when Taiwan was reunited with its Chinese historical and cultural heritage. It suggests that in the post-Japanese colonial period, spoken Taiwanese continued to be a convincing vehicle of struggle for an alternative national identity. A proper appreciation of this situation depends on how we define literacy practices and comprehend these in the context of Taiwan's sociolinguistic landscape, past and present. Special reference will be made to diglossia, the connotation between script and language, criteria of literacy (functional and cultural), Chinese language standardisation and Japanese linguistic colonialism.
AB - This paper offers a historical and sociolinguistic interrogation of Taiwanese to demonstrate the significance of language continuum in relation to identity formation. To this end, Taiwanese is discussed as a particular variety of language. Literacy practices in the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945) are contrasted with the precolonial and post-Japanese colonial period. The paper maintains that policies of Japanese linguistic colonialism strengthened the sociosemiotic cohesion amongst speakers of Taiwanese, and discusses how this experience resonated with the new reality after Japanese colonial rule in 1945 when Taiwan was reunited with its Chinese historical and cultural heritage. It suggests that in the post-Japanese colonial period, spoken Taiwanese continued to be a convincing vehicle of struggle for an alternative national identity. A proper appreciation of this situation depends on how we define literacy practices and comprehend these in the context of Taiwan's sociolinguistic landscape, past and present. Special reference will be made to diglossia, the connotation between script and language, criteria of literacy (functional and cultural), Chinese language standardisation and Japanese linguistic colonialism.
KW - Colonialism
KW - Identity
KW - Japan
KW - Literacy
KW - Nationalism
KW - Taiwan
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U2 - 10.1080/01434630508668422
DO - 10.1080/01434630508668422
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:34247656536
SN - 0143-4632
VL - 26
SP - 496
EP - 511
JO - Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
JF - Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
IS - 6
ER -