Hansen Edwards: Borders and Bridges - Social Movements and Linguistic Identity in Hong Kong

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Jette Hansen Edwards' presentation on "Borders and Bridges - Social Movements and Linguistic Identity in Hong Kong" at the 2022 ISLE summer school
Abstract
This talk examines the impact of social movements on linguistic identity in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was a British colony for over 150 years, until 1997, when it became part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). Hong Kong has undergone significant periods of social unrest since 2014, due to fears that Hong Kong is losing its autonomy from PRC rule, and that the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ governance promised for Hong Kong for 50 years is slowly eroding as Hong Kong is perceived to be in the process of becoming politically, linguistically, and demographically assimilated into the PRC.
Drawing on data from a longitudinal mixed-methods study consisting of over 2000 surveys and 60 interviews conducted since the eve of the Umbrella Movement in 2014 and through the political unrest in 2019 and 2020, this talk examines the use of Hong Kong’s three official spoken languages - English, Cantonese, and Putonghua - and Hong Kong English (HKE), a postcolonial variety of English that is gradually gaining acceptance in Hong Kong, to mark participants’ own linguistic identity as well as a linguistic identity of Hong Kong. The talk also focuses on the role of political engagement in participants’ linguistic identification of the self and of Hong Kong, with a particular focus on Hong Kong’s youth, as the rise of English in the language ecology, and the targeting and use of HKE as the local identity marker has been largely led by adolescents in resistance to the increasing political and linguistic mainlandization of Hong Kong. At the heart of the talk is an examination of the complex interplay between identities, language, and varieties that has unfolded in Hong Kong as the political landscape has shifted.
Readings
Hansen Edwards, J. G. 2022. ‘Youth identity as linguistic identity: Political engagement and language acquisition and use in Hong Kong’. In T. Brato, S. Buschfeld, and M. Schmalz (eds.) Acquisition and variation in World Englishes. Mouton de Gruyter. In press.
Hansen Edwards, J. G. 2021. ‘‘I have to save this language, it's on the edge like an endangered animal’:  Perceptions of language threat and linguistic mainlandization in Hong Kong’.  Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 42: 307-326.
Hansen Edwards, J. G. 2020.’Borders and bridges: The politics of language and identity in Hong Kong’. Journal of Asian Pacific Communication Special 30th Anniversary Edition 30: 115-138.
Hansen Edwards, J. G. 2016. ‘The politics of language and identity: Attitudes towards Hong Kong English pre- and post- the Umbrella Movement’. Asian Englishes 18: 157
Hansen Edwards, J. G. 2015. ’Hong Kong English: Attitudes, identity, and use’. Asian Englishes 17: 184-208.