Discourses of identity

Outgroup stereotypes and strategies of discursive boundary-making in Chinese students’ online discussions about “the other”

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12890669
AutoresHans J Ladegaard (0000-0002-9243-4994, Hong Kong Baptist University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2011
Volumen7
Número1
Páginas59-79
Fecha de publicación2011-04-16
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Multicultural Discourses (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1744-7143 • E-ISSN: 1747-6615
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17447143.2011.560670
OpenAlexW1991840317
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas34

In the public discourse about Mainland China (MLC) in Hong Kong (HK), China is usually presented as ingroup, and the "one-country-one-people" ideology is widely supported. In the private discourse, however, MLC is usually presented as outgroup. This article analyzes spontaneous online discussions from a chat forum where local and non-local Chinese students in an Intercultural Communication class discuss self- and other-categorizations in HK and MLC. The analyses demonstrate that a wide range of mitigation strategies is used, suggesting that students constantly engage in face-threatening activities. The data also show that HK students' stereotypes of MLC are remarkably negative, and that MLC students defend themselves by constructing counter-narratives about the rejected mother and her ungrateful child. The discussion argues that social identity is a flexible concept which constantly changes depending on context and situation, and it suggests that the students' narratives should be seen as examples of different types of discourse: a Western and an Eastern discourse with fundamentally different norms for self- and other-construction. Finally, the paper argues that only by addressing potentially painful issues, and verbalizing taboos in the strained relationship between HK and MLC, is it possible, over time, to reconcile the opposing discourses about "the other". © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Aesthetics · Boundary (topology · Discourse analysis · Epistemology · Identity (music · Linguistics · Outgroup · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Gender Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology