This article examines the language autobiographies of 12 Chinese-Canadians to address how topolects (Ch. fangyan)-spoken language varieties marking place-based belongingformulate identity once removed from their original places. We found that narrators located topolects in their pasts and homelands, while associating standard Mandarin with mobility and the future. We argue that, by associating topolects and standard Mandarin with contrasting times and places, narrators reformatted prevailing standard language ideologies from mainland China to rationalize experiences of linguistic exclusion. Despite pressures for language standardization, the narrative grounding of topolects in kinship chronotopes offers possibilities for maintaining diverse Chinese languages amidst mobility. [Chinese languages, language and mobility, language autobiographies, language standardization, language vitality]
often been framed in economic terms. Moreover, despite the many benefits of the authors' conceptual approach and the accessibility of their writing, the chapters read at times as if groups and individuals subjected to colonialism or other forms of inequality, for example, are passive and have little agency. Up until the last chapter, the discussion of resistance is mostly limited to academics and major historical figures, excluding historical sources containing marginalized voices and what Scott terms "hidden transcripts" (Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts, Yale University Press, 1990) that emerge in the face of hegemony and coercion.In spite of the aforementioned issues, the book is an engaging, challenging, and thoughtprovoking read that makes one think and critically reflect. It is a good introductory text for students to the discipline and will spark scholarly insight well into the future. I would suggest this book to anyone with an interest in anthropology, linguistics, or communication.
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