Theorizing Language Rationalisation in Greater China: Political Transition, Self-governance and Language Outcomes in Post-Handover Hong Kong

Abstract

This chapter investigates the implications of Putonghua rationalization in the PRC for language and identity outcomes in post-Handover Hong Kong. Western-based approaches on unilingual Rationalisation and regional revivals ignore the subtleties of Chinese dialectal differences, and seem ill-adapted to Hong Kong's institutional multilingualism. The first section assesses some of these approaches, and proposes an analytical framework based on David Laitin's strategic modeling and Neo-Institutionalism. The second section surveys recent linguistic developments with regard to language regime creation and Chinese use in Hong Kong and the PRC, and highlights the significance of Hong Kong in the politico-linguistic context of Greater China. The chapter finally assesses some previous studies on language attitudes in Hong Kong, and underlines the conditions for different language outcomes in the SAR. On the whole, the chapter argues that language outcomes in the SAR will be determined not only by political and identity developments regarding the meaning of self-governance, but also by the linguistic coordination of diverse segments of Hong Kong society.