In the first part of his presentation, Dr. Klöter will provide an overview of Taiwan’s language situation by taking stock of the languages that are currently spoken, their sociolinguistic status and their social and geographical distribution. Special attention will be given to the phenomenon of language shift, i.e. the exclusive use of Mandarin and the discontinuation of regional language use among younger speakers. In the second part of the presentation, he will look at the visible manifestation of different languages in the linguistic landscape of Taipei city. Taking street name signs as an example, he will show that until today, official signage strictly reflects language norms and official standards of the post-1949 period and excludes non-standard linguistic alternatives such as Southern Min or Hakka. The profound ideological shift towards ‘nativisation’ that gathered momentum at the turn of the 21st century has left almost no visible traces on street signage.
About the lecturer
Dr. Henning Klöter is Professor of Modern Chinese Languages and Literatures and Executive Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Humboldt University of Berlin. His research interests include multilingualism and society, language planning, Taiwan Studies (language, history, literature), history of Chinese linguistics in Europe, Sinophone Studies, Chinese writing, and Translation Studies.
The Taiwan Matters lecture series has been funded by the Ministry of Education of Taiwan (ROC) through the Taipei Mission in Stockholm, Sweden.