Language and revolution

Formulae of the Cultural Revolution

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2872057
AutoresJi Feng Yuan (University of Canterbury), Koenraad Kuiper (University of Canterbury), Shu Shaogu (University of Canterbury)
Ano1990
Volume19
Fascículo1
Páginas61-79
Data de publicação1990-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404500014111
OpenAlexW2145824420
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas14
Referências citadas9

From the hypothesis that routine formulae code cultural norms, it follows that social change will reveal itself in the formulaic inventory of a language. We test this prediction by looking at some of the changes to formulaic speech which took place in postrevolutionary China, particularly during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. We first examine some generally used politeness formulae, comparing them with prerevolutionary equivalents. We then examine the Public Criticism Meeting as a revolutionary ritual and show that its structure and formulaic language arose directly out of revolutionary imperatives. We attribute the changes in the formulaic inventory of Chinese directly to the need to code new social facts, although old social norms can also be discerned in the new formulae, thus showing that social changes are built on a previous social order. (Oral formulaic performance, routine formulae, situational constraints, Cultural Revolution

Archaeology · China · Code (set theory) · Criticism · Cultural revolution · Epistemology · Linguistics · Order (exchange) · Politeness · Political science · Situational ethics · Sociology · Test (biology) · Computer Science · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy