Smith Finley / Zang Language, Education and Uyghur Identity in Urban Xinjiang

Erscheinungsjahr 2015
ISBN: 978-1-317-53736-6
Verlag: CRC Press
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 226 Seiten

Reihe: Routledge Studies on Ethnicity in Asia

As the regional lingua franca, the Uyghur language long underpinned Uyghur national identity in Xinjiang. However, since the ‘bilingual education’ policy was introduced in 2002, Chinese has been rapidly institutionalised as the sole medium of instruction in the region’s institutes of education. As a result, Minkaohan studies – the study of bilingual and indeed multi-lingual Uyghur urban youth – has emerged as a major new research trend.

This book explores the relationship between language, education and identity among the urban Uyghurs of contemporary Xinjiang. It considers ways in which Uyghur urban youth identities began to evolve in response to the imposition of ‘bilingual education’. Starting by defining the notion of ethnic identity, the book goes on to explore the processes involved in the formation and development of personal and group identities. It considers why ethnic boundaries are constructed between groups and when ethnic identity markers might be employed in the pursuit of interests. It also questions how ethnic identity is expressed in social, cultural and religious practice and explores the relationship between language use, education and ethnic identity formation and expression. In order to address these matters, it reviews some key arguments in the field of ethnicity theory, and then considers research findings around identity development.

As a study of ethnicity in China this book will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Chinese culture and society, Asian ethnicity, cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics and Asian education.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Smith Finley, Joanne

Zang, Xiaowei

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Language, Education, and Uyghur Identity: An Introductory Essay Joanne Smith Finley and Xiaowei Zang 2. Major Determinants of Uyghur Ethnic Consciousness in Ürümchi Xiaowei Zang 3. Between Minkaohan and Minkaomin: Discourses on "Assimilation" amongst Bilingual Urban Uyghurs David Tobin 4. The Construction of Uyghur Urban Youth Identity through Language Use Ablimit Baki Elterish 5. Second/Third Language Learning and Uyghur Identity: Language in Education for Uyghurs in Urban Xinjiang Mamtimyn Sunuodula 6. Representations of Uyghurs in Chinese History Textbooks Janina Feyel 7. Young Uyghurs’ Perceptions of Han Chinese: from Xinjiang to Inland, from State to Individual Yangbin Chen 8. Escaping "Inseparability": How Uyghur Graduates of the "Xinjiang Class" Contest Membership in the Zhonghua Minzu Timothy A. Grose 9. Education, Religion and Identity among Uyghur Hostesses in Ürümchi. Joanne Smith Finley 10. Conclusions Gardner Bovingdon

Über Autor(innen)

Joanne Smith Finley is Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages at Newcastle University, UK.

Xiaowei Zang is Professor and Dean of the College of Arts and Liberal Sciences at the City University of Hong Kong.