The creation of national languages has featured prominently in national movements around the world. This seminar will study China’s national language movement in the twentieth century and its efforts to standardize the modern written and spoken language from a comparative perspective. We will explore how various factors shaped ideas of a national language in different countries of Asia, including regional identities, class politics, the role of antiquity in the image of the nation, educational policies and literacy campaigns, the impact of foreign languages, improved communications by newspaper and telegraph, advances in linguistic scholarship, etc. This course is reading-intensive. Activities will include classroom discussions, with short lectures and student presentations. Assessment will be based on student participation in class and on individual research papers. The module is taught in English. Knowledge of Chinese is no prerequisite for attending the seminar, and students are welcome to present on and write their research paper about other Asian languages.
Students in the MA Sinology program (and others who wish to take the module for ten credits) will also take part in the exercise class where we will deal with the interplay between modern communications technologies and linguistic change. This class takes place in collaboration with the German Museum of Books and Writing (Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum). The goal is to produce a booklet and a short video demonstration for the use of a Chinese typewriter.
- Trainer/in: Elisabeth Kaske