Language policy and governmentality: Chanting the Chinese Classics

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the strategies of governance in the language policy ‘Chanting the Chinese Classics’ (CCC) as deployed by State authorities, schools, and local communities. It highlights the strategy of ‘viewing’ as a nexus between language policy processes and traditional Chinese governing philosophy. To examine the connections between macro-level language policy and local educational and communicative processes, an ethnography of language policy was conducted at a weekend community school. We argue that language policy governance in Chinese language policy implementation mirrors Confucian philosophy. To further this strategy, State authorities organize nationally televised events at which school children compete in chanting competitions, which serve as exemplars for educators, parents, and students, who are encouraged to memorize vast quantities of classic Chinese literature. Results reveal that the appropriation of the CCC policy by teachers and parents encourages self-government and aligns with language policy ideology. While the CCC policy effectively encourages thousands of children to memorize Chinese Classics, it simultaneously promotes cultural confidence and nationalism.

KEYWORDS:

• Language policy
• language planning
• governmentality
• China
• Confucius

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our appreciation to the teachers, parents, and students who took part in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hua Yu

Hua Yu is Associate Professor at the Institute of Linguistics, National Research Center for Language Planning and Policy, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China. Her research interests are ethnography of language policy, critical discourse analysis, and language education.

David Cassels Johnson

David Cassels Johnson is Associate Professor of Multilingual Education at the University of Iowa and Visiting Professor of Applied Linguistics at Shanghai International Studies University. He is the author of Language Policy (2013, Palgrave Macmillan), The Language Gap: Normalizing Deficit Ideologies (2021, Routledge, with Eric J. Johnson), and co-editor of Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide (2015, Wiley-Blackwell, with Francis M. Hult).