Language attitudes in dielect films:
First, the dialect use in pure dialect films presents the specific regional and cultural characteristics of a specific area to audience.
However, the dialect in many pure dialect films is often used to imply backward and poverty-stricken areas, and that ignorant, uneducated people live there. For example, Devils on the Door Steps, directed by Jiangwen in 2000, is a distinguished and typical pure dialect film in China. The film tells a story between Chinese villagers and Japanese soldiers in a small village in Hebei province during the World War II. The use of Tangshan rural dialect in this film successfully constructs the impression that this village is backward and poor. Also, the villagers are ignorant, uneducated but honest, and they have a commitment with Japanese soldiers but are finally fooled and killed by them at the end.
Photo from Devils on the Door Steps, directed by Jiangwen.
Second, the antagonism between Putonghua and dialects in films shapes characters.
Third, dialect use achieves comic effect in films.
As stated in the framework section, since the film-making process is almost more an attitude than an activity, it contains a wide range of human endeavors by making choices within existing possibilities in life (Monaco, 2000). Language attitudes also can be revealed from dialect use in the films.
Usually, in dialect films, characters from the countryside speak dialect, while those from big cities speak standard Putonghua. Here, the more standard Putonghua people speak, the more civilized they seem. Language may form the first impression of a person, and linguistic features become an invisible tool to judge people.
For example, one of the main characters in Lost on Journey, Niu Geng, speaks dialect. Compared to the other main character Li Chenggong (Chenggong means being successful in Chinese) who is a successful and snobbish CEO of a toy company, Niu Geng acts as an opposite kind of person – honest and sincere bumpkin working in a milk factory (Wang, 2010). Apart from the dressing and haircut, language use shapes the characters, having great implications on the characters’ status, position, and regional, cultural and educational background.
Photo from Lost on Journey, directed by Ye Weiming.
Characters who speak dialect, often acts as hilarious people, bringing comic effect in films. For example, in Crazy stone, the character Xie Xiaomeng is a foppish person from a rich family, and he studied in art program in Hong Kong. He speaks his mother dialect, Sichuan dialect with his father who works in a village, but always speaks Putonghua while he is pursuing or dating a girl who can speak Sichuan dialect as well. When he was boasting with his friend on the phone, he spoke Hong Kong style Putonghua (Wang, 2010).
Deconstructing the language use of this character, we can easily reveal the economic or cultural power behind the language. Sichuan dialect is viewed as rural, low-class or rude, and he only uses it with his father. Putonghua is viewed as more upper-class and decent, so he uses it in most of the occasions especially with girls. Boasting in Hong Kong style Putonghua, he acknowledged himself as a fashionable person with foreign flavor. With various dialects use in different contexts (a special code-switching), a hilarious character brings comic effect in this film, making the film more vivid and funny. Meanwhile, this character’s dialect attitude is revealed, which also a reflection of a general perception towards different dialects among people.
Photo from Crazy Stone, directed by Ning Hao.
Language Attitude & Ideology
in Dialect films
Backgound
1990s was a special booming period in all aspects in China.
The rapid economic growth, new reforms in Chinese society, and new ideas and values have brought great opportunities for Chinese films. Increasing demand for media works has triggered an increase in the number of films produced and shown on the screen. Thus, dialect films have gained prosperous development since the 1990s. Specifically, the influential dialect movie The Story of Qiu Ju, directed by Zhang Yimou, was approved by Chinese censorship apparatus (a strict restriction on media, especially on dialect films before 1990s), and finally won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1992. Since then, dialect films started their prosperous period (Lam, 2005). In 2000, article 16 in Chapter 2 in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, clearly points out that dialects are allowed for use as needed in traditional operas, films and TV programs and other forms of art. Since then, dialects films have been an alternative way for dialect development since the 1990s.
Dialect Films
In China, scholars divided, and still divide, dialect films into two main categories, based on whether Putonghua is used and how many dialects are used in a film.
The first type of dialect film is pure dialect films, which occupies 15% of the total dialect films produced. This type of film usually has two language versions, Putonghua version and dialect version. They can be chosen by audience. The second type uses both Putonghua and other dialects in the film, which can be sub-divided into two types, using Putonghua and one dialect (58%), or using Putonghua and more than one dialect (27%) (Wang, 2010).
References:
Fong, E. T. Y. (2010). Changing intergroup relations with Mainland Chinese: An analysis of changes in Hong
Kong movies as a popular cultural discourse. Multilingua-Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage
Communication, 29(1), 29-53.
Furukawa, G. (2015). “Cool” English: Stylized Native-Speaker English in Japanese Television Shows.
Multilingua, 34(2), 265-291.
Jin, D.M. & Xu, W.M. (2008). The analysis of dialect phenomenon in Chinese movie since 1990s. [in Chinese]
Dramatic Art, 2008(4), 104-108.
Lam, A. S. (2005). Language education in China: Policy and experience from 1949: Policy and experience
from 1949 (Vol. 1). Hong Kong University Press.
Monaco, J. (2000). How to read a film: the world of movies, media, and multimedia: language, history, theory.
Oxford University Press, USA.
Wang, J. R. (2016). The cold thought of dialect films booming from a linguistic perspective [in Chinese].
Sichuan drama, 4, 004. Retrieved from http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-SCXJ201604004.htm
Photo source:
http://cul.qq.com/a/20160321/032510.htm
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/人在囧途
http://ent.qq.com/a/20151205/038320.htm
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/鬼子来了
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/疯狂的石头#/media/File:Crazystone.jpg
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/花樣年華
In conclude, though dialect use in films serves for different purposes as I mentioned above, similar attitude towards dialect can also be revealed in various films and that can be generalized into the same pattern.
In dialect films, dialect from rural areas is regarded as low-status linguistic codes which is associated with minor, low-educated, low-class, or hilarious characters. Putonghua as prestigious linguistic code, is more like to be spoken by decent, upper-class, educated or business man. However, a few dialects are exceptions in dialect film. For example, Beijing dialect, Shanghai dialect, Cantonese and Hong Kong style Putonghua (not a dialect but emphasizes on the accent) are prestigious linguistic codes in dialect films, which is linked tightly to the political, economic and cultural power (Fong, 2010).
It is not surprised to find that audience can easily sense or even judge the characters from their speech features. Similarly, in real life, we can easily distinguish what kind of speech style is more likely to be spoken by which group of people. The widespread and prevalent dialect attitudes in media, reflects and also strengthens the dominant language ideology in China. In this case, rural dialects are inevitably underestimated to some extent, which may marginalize them at the same time.
Conclusion
However, dialect attitude is not fixed but fluid.
Some studies show the concern that the dialect use in films will affect the status of Putonghua, and overuse or improper use of dialect will influence the standardization and popularization process of Putonghua, since slangs and particular expression in dialect are different from written form or spoken form of standard Mandarin.
Though official policy has been carried out to legitimize dialect use in artistic creation, superior status of Putonghua is still assured and guaranteed in certain media use. For example, TV plays, children’s TV programs, and educational films should use Putonghua. Also, political leaders in TV players should speak Putonghua. In this case, in my view, even though diverse dialect films are coming up, the dominant ideology is still maintained by political power and similar language attitude presented in media works.
Moreover, since media has been an alternative but significant approach for audience to get to know various dialects that they seldom have chance to get access to in real life, the language awareness of audience that they should be able to sense the linguistic diversities and linguistic codes, and to construct their own understanding and individual attitude towards dialects are important, instead of passively accepting the existing language attitude from the media. This concern should bring great implication on educational field.