16. LANGUAGE IDEOLOGIESBased on Su, Hsi-Yao. 2011.

The Meaning Contestation of Tai: Language ideologies and the global-local ambivalence. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 37.2:283-308

授課老師：蘇以文I-wen Su

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Overview

Taike 台客 : a cultural stereotype of young Taiwanese adults whose lifestyle, linguistic repertoire, and fashion sense are considered distinctively local and unsuccessfully imitative of current trends

the term may index local identity and nonconformity – a way to explore language ideologies concerning localism, cosmopolitanism, and authenticity in Taiwan

Taike 台客 The term is composed of two morphemes:

tai2 台 and ke4 客 . Tai is the abbreviation of Taiwan. Ke has two main meanings (Kangxi Dictionary)

1. “a guest”; 2. “a visitor”; anyone from another place

What does Taike mean?

Taiker culture is a kind of sub-culture in the new century

similar to very ”Taiwanese”? vulgar and impolite? good men but rude and low-level? negative?

Northern Taiwan females, the higher-educated, and the younger

evaluating the terms more negatively than their counterparts

Origin and development

1960s and 1970s The term “ 台客” or its variant ” 土台客” was said

to be used by young wai4sheng3ren2 ( 外省人 ) (hereafter mainlander) gangsters in the 60’s and 70’s to refer to ben3sheng3ren2 ( 本省人 ) gangsters, of whose lifestyle and taste they disapproved as vulgar

1990s Based on the appearance (not-in-fashion dress with

bright and shining decorations) and behavior (ways of talking and the show-off style)

2004-2005

repackaging the term as something consumable and trendy, and even popular the TVBS program Liangdai dianli gongsi 二代電力公

司 – the TV program invited college students or Taikes themselves to discuss issues related to Taike

the Taike yaogun yanchanghui ( 台客搖滾演唱會 ) ‘Taike Rock’n’ Roll Concert’ was held to claim local identity and nonconformity

Around 2005

Taike Rock’n Roll concert, well-known singers such as Wubai ( 伍佰 ) and Chen

Sheng ( 陳昇 ) proudly reclaimed the word the print media published books (e.g., Call Me

Taike) and special magazine issues (e.g., Eslite Reader), linking taike with local arts and culture.

In this wave of taike discourse, tai is about local identity, and taike is uniquely Taiwanese

陳昇 , 伍佰 - 愛情限時批 等無限時批 (05:31) ( 陳昇 and 伍佰 and a mash-up of two of their songs)

志明與春嬌（五月天 with 伍佰）（台客 LIVE ） (04:52) (Tai2ke4 of different generations)

2010 謝金燕《嗶嗶嗶》台妹電音新舞曲 (03:46) (Tai2mei4; Tai2ke4 dance; codeswitching between

Cantonese, Taiwanese, Mandarin and English) (A comment below: 台語 + 廣東話 + 國語 + 英文 = 火星語

真的好台阿 )

Stigma

the term taike has no equivalent in local languages other than Mandarin

Even when the singers involved in the Taike Rock’n Roll concert tried to promote the term, they had to code-switch to the Mandarin pronunciation of taike within an otherwise Taiwanese speech.

This instance of code-switching illustrates that taike remains to be a term constructed by the Mandarin-speaking population.

Press Conference in 2005

A number of political organizations (Taiwan North Society and Taiwan Association of University Professors) consider the literal meaning of taike (Taiwan(ese) as visitors from outside) implies that Taiwan(ese) is secondary to China

a total abandonment of the term was called for due to the lack of substantial change in its self-degrading nature

Defining characters

four major defining characteristics: . Wang (2007) summarizes a mass of online tike discourses in 2004 and 2005>

fashion senses linguistic practices behavior/conduct mentality

Taike is one who mixes inconsistent stylistic elements and has an outdated fashion

sense, who exaggerates and is showy, who pretends to know things that he actually doesn’t know, who swears and speaks Taiwan guo2yu3, i.e., Taiwanese-accented

Mandarin Wang, Mei-Zhen. 2007. What Does Tai Mean?: The Imagining of Taike Culture and Identity Construction.

Issues

As of now, based on data 2008-2010 taike jokes are seldom heard. Tai, an adjective derived from taike, has developed

into a common descriptor in everyday language in comments like “That’s so tai.”

Issues regarding the adjectival use of tai the current attitudes across different social groups the ideologies concerning language, localness,

globalnessSu, Hsi-Yao. 2011. The Meaning Contestation of Tai: Language ideologies and the global-local ambivalence.

Categorizing Taike (Lin 2008)

1. Taike as a subjective group (Zhu 2003)2. Taike as a construction by other (G. Chen 2006; Li

2006; Lin 2006; Wang 2007; Zheng 2003)3. Taike as sub-culture (Chang 2006; Tsai 2004; )4. Taike as media reproduction (He 2006; Lai 2006)5. Taike as a manifestation of cultural hegemony (G.

Chen 2006; Wang 2007)Zhu, Bai Jing. 2003. Taike Culture as an Armed-Force against Modernity: Plans of the Southern Area of Old Taipei City.Chen, Guan-Ru. 2006. Taike: The Reproduction of Social Class in Taiwan and Cultural Hegemony.Li, Ming-Cong. 2006. The continuous discourse about taike: Who’s talking?.Lin, Hong-Hang. 2006. The distinction of taste about taike: The discourse of new taike and the controversy.Wang, Mei-Zhen. 2007. What Does Tai Mean?: The Imagining of Taike Culture and Identity Construction.Zheng, Kai Tong. 2003. What is tai? The ambiguity in Taiwanese culture.Chang, Chieh-Mao. 2006. To See Industrial Design from Subculture: Custom Vehicle in Taike Culture.Tsai, Yao-hsien. 2004. Transgression and Recreation in Public Life: Taike Culture.He, Hong-Yi. 2006. How blog readers interpret and identify with the taike renaissance.Lai, Yi-Ting. 2006. The Rhetorical Vision of Taike as Constructed in Media: An Analysis of the “Generation” Show.

Two near-synonyms about localness: tai2ke5 and ben3tu3

the highest votes on taike: Wubai ( 伍佰 , a male rock’n roll singer who

played a significant role in the Taike Rock’n Roll Concert)

The Sparkling Three Sisters ( 閃亮三姊妹 , a female singing group)

Highest scores on bentu: Jacky Wu ( 吳宗憲 , a male talk show host, singer, and

actor) Shui-bian Chen ( 陳水扁 , the former president)

The meanings of localness

Ben3tu3: commonly related to Taiwanization, indigenization, and

Taiwanese Nationalism. The Taiwanese language is also strongly associated with the

discourses related to bentu or Taiwanese Nationalism (Chiung 2007).

closely tied with the identity label taiwanren, literally ‘Taiwanese’ and is often promoted as a structurally sophisticated language that preserves archaic forms.

In contrast, tai3 is often used to refer to Taiwanese young adults who are local but try to be “above themselves.”Chiung, Wi-vun Tiffalo. 2007. Language, literacy, and nationalism:

Taiwan’s orthographic transition from the perspective of Han sphere.

Sociolinguistic factors

Evaluation of Tai varies in terms of gender and education: female and the higher educated tend to evaluate tai

more negatively <and qi4zhi2 more positively> Male and the lower educated tend to evaluate tai less

negatively <and qi4zhi2 less positively> Age has significant effect on the evaluation of tai

Members of the younger generation tend to evaluate it more negatively: the younger they are, the more negative the attitudes

Ethnicity does not have any significant effect

Iconic relationship between attitudes and language practice

Taiwanese-accented Mandarin as a stigmatized label is often stereotyped as a result of a Taiwanese speaker’s failed attempt at acquiring the “standard” accent.

Non-linguistic characteristics associated with taike also show a parallel.

E.g., wearing fake designer brands or mixing inconsistent fashion elements unwisely in an outfit >> implying failure to acquire the mainstream fashion sense (both a lack of competence and material resources)

Five attibutes of authenticity

Notion of authenticity (Coupland 2003): ontology, historicity, systemic coherence, consensus, value

The Taiwanese language and the local Taiwanese in the discourses of Taiwanese nationalism involve all five of them.

Coupland, Nikolas. 2003. Sociolinguistic authenticities.

Copyright Declaration

Work Licensing Author/Source

p.11

Wang, Mei-Zhen. 2007. What Does Tai Mean?: The Imagining of Taike Culture and Identity Construction. MA thesis, National Chengchi University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.12

Su, Hsi-Yao. 2011. The Meaning Contestation of Tai: Language ideologies and the global-local ambivalence. Concentric: Studies in Linguistics 37.2:283-308and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

Zhu, Bai Jing. 2003. Taike Culture as an Armed-Force against Modernity: Plans of the Southern Area of Old Taipei City. MA thesis, Tamkang University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

Copyright Declaration

Work Licensing Author/Source

p.13

Chen, Guan-Ru. 2006. Taike: The Reproduction of Social Class in Taiwan and Cultural Hegemony. MA thesis, National Taiwan Normal University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

Li, Ming-Cong. 2006. The continuous discourse about taike: Who’s talking?. Eslite Reader 56:44-46.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

Lin, Hong-Hang. 2006. The distinction of taste about taike: The discourse of new taike and the controversy. Paper presented at The Re-Emergence of Taike? Popular Culture and Identity Conference, Chinese Culture University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

Copyright Declaration

Work Licensing Author/Source

p.13

Wang, Mei-Zhen. 2007. What Does Tai Mean?: The Imagining of Taike Culture and Identity Construction. MA thesis, National Chengchi University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

Zheng, Kai Tong. 2003. What is tai? The ambiguity in Taiwanese culture. Contemporary Magazine 195:60–79.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

Chang, Chieh-Mao. 2006. To See Industrial Design from Subculture: Custom Vehicle in Taike Culture. MA thesis, Shih Chien Universityand used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

Copyright Declaration

Work Licensing Author/Source

p.13

Tsai, Yao-hsien. 2004. Transgression and Recreation in Public Life: Taike Culture. MA thesis, Nanhua University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

He, Hong-Yi. 2006. How blog readers interpret and identify with the taike renaissance. Paper presented at The Re-Emergence of Taike? Popular Culture and Identity Conference, Chinese Culture University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.13

Lai, Yi-Ting. 2006. The Rhetorical Vision of Taike as Constructed in Media: An Analysis of the “Generation” Show. MA thesis, Fu Jen Catholic University.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

Copyright Declaration

Work Licensing Author/Source

p.15

Chiung, Wi-vun Tiffalo. 2007. Language, literacy, and nationalism: Taiwan’s orthographic transition from the perspective of Han sphere. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 28.2:102–115.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW

p.18

Coupland, Nikolas. 2003. Sociolinguistic authenticities. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7.3:417–431.and used subject to the fair use doctrine of the Taiwan Copyright Act Article 50 by NTU OCW