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2023/24 School of Chinese Research Seminar

‘We Have the Best Story, Never Told’: Pride and Profit of Chinese Community in the Linguistic Landscape of Bendigo, Australia

旅遊商品化與民族自豪感：澳洲本迪戈華人社區的語言景觀

Speaker: Dr. Xiaofang Yao 姚曉芳博士

Date: Wednesday, 22 November 2023

Time: 2:30 PM - 3:45 PM

Venue: Room 7.30, Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU

Language: English

Abstract:

In this seminar, I will explore the linguistic landscape of Bendigo, Australia, focusing on the Chinese community’s negotiation of ethnic tourism discourses in this diasporic context and their assertion of ownership over Chinese languages, cultures, and identities. Built on a comprehensive dataset of photographs, field notes, interviews, and archival materials, I will analyse how multiple forms of Chinese languages, material objects, and other semiotic resources have been exploited to construct an essentialist Chinese touristic experience. Meanwhile, Bendigo’s Chinese community has exercised agency in preserving their heritage, despite their inconsistent uses of Chinese translations and missteps in marketing Chineseness. A close examination of Chinese heritage sites demonstrates not only a shared history but also a potential for a shared future, one where the Chinese presence is seamlessly integrated into the fabric of Bendigo’s urban landscape. Situated at the intersection of language and space, this study contributes to a research agenda that seeks to shift our focus from human- and language-centric views to the role of material and technological affordances in communication.

過往研究通常認為旅遊商品化過程會削弱移民群體主體性。本演講將探討澳洲本迪戈市的語言景觀，從中文文本、文化物品以及其它符號資源入手，分析華人社群在面對商品化話語壓力下如何維繫漢語文字、中華文化及其身分認同，從而揭示文化旅遊亦可賦權華人社群。從語言和空間研究視角出發，我們將探討語言的物質性以及空間中的物質如何給予溝通更多的可能性。

Speaker:

Xiaofang Yao, PhD (University of Melbourne), is a Lecturer at the Institute of Education, Arts and Community at Federation University, Australia. Her research interests include migrant cultures, translanguaging practices, linguistic/semiotic landscape, translation and interpreting, and digital humanities. She has published in the areas of language and space, culture, identity, and power especially with diaspora Chinese community in Victoria, Australia. She is currently preparing a research monograph entitled Affect, Power and Identity in the Linguistic Landscape: Chinese Communities in Australia and Beyond (Routledge).

姚曉芳博士，澳洲聯邦大學教育學院講師，墨爾本大學應用語言學博士。研究興趣包括移民文化、跨語言實踐，語言景觀，翻譯與口譯，數位人文等课题。目前正在籌備研究專著：《情動、權力與認同：澳大利亞華人社區語言景觀》。

ALL ARE WELCOME