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An outsider’s thoughts on ‘plight’ of Shanghainese
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I read with interest Hai Ge’s thoughts on the importance of Shanghainese. I was happy to see a young person show such an interest in the culture and history of their hometown. Also, if I understand her commentary correctly, I am sorry to hear that the author feels there is something missing in her connection to Shanghai and her grandmother due to her inability to speak fluent Shanghainese.
I myself come from a part of the United States called New England, which is known for its many linguistic quirks and distinctive strains of English.
Indeed, when my Canadian wife met my father for the first time, she says it took her several days to understand him clearly. At home, our dialect and way of speaking are very much an important part of our own special culture.
I can’t argue with the historical observations Ge makes. I’m sure that several local dialects did coalesce at some point around Shanghainese, enabling communication between people that may have found each other unintelligible in prior generations. Also, the fact that several Mandarin words for foreign things derive from Shanghainese is certainly a testament to the city’s history as an important point of contact with the outside world.
As Ge claims: “it is because of Shanghai’s inclusiveness that Shanghai achieved today’s prosperity.” The author goes on to conclude that Shanghainese has historically been an “accommodating” language, but sadly is not being accommodated today thanks in part to policies aimed at promoting Mandarin.
This is all true, as far as I can tell. Yet I wonder if there isn’t more to the story of Shanghainese than commentators often suggest. My goal here is not to debate with Ge, or others who share her views, but merely to offer my own thoughts. Over the years, there’s been a lot of hand-wringing in the press over the apparent decline of the local dialect.
More globally-oriented
If I may address Ge’s argument specifically, if Shanghainese is indeed vanishing, does this mean the city is becoming any less inclusive or accepting? The fact that the author is herself writing in English and a student at Columbia University — placing her among the rapidly expanding cohort of Shanghai-born students who study and travel abroad every year — doesn’t exactly suggest to me that Shanghai is headed toward a more insular, closed-off future as youngsters eschew the local dialect.
By many measures (investment flows, student exchanges, cross-border trade, international air routes, ect) it would seem that the city and its people are becoming even more globally-oriented — which would belie a correlation between dialect usage and internationalization.
As a foreigner, I sense that Shanghainese is often a tool to divide “insiders” from “outsiders.” This is hardly a controversial observation, since this has been a key function of dialects for millennia.
In shops and convenience stores, I’ve on rare occassions seen Chinese people with thick, erhua-laden northern accents being refused service in Mandarin (whether through ignorance or excessive local pride is anyone’s guess). And when my landlord and her husband are haggling with me over the coming year’s rent, they (conveniently) switch from Mandarin to Shanghainese, which they known I don’t understand.
On a larger scale, foreign business friends tell me they often bring Shanghainese and Mandarin translators to negotiations to prevent any shenanigans. I wish that I could share Ge’s fondness for the local dialect, but sadly I think this is not to be.
But then there is also the question of whether Shanghainese is really in the precarious situation that many suggest. Stories about the importance of local culture get a lot of attention in the local media these days, but I wonder if the press hasn’t overblown the waning of Shanghainese.
As Ge herself mentions, Shanghainese is having somewhat of a revival at present. There are now schools, lessons and textbooks aimed at teaching the language to a new generation. I certainly hear a more-or-less equal mix of Shanghainese and Mandarin every day at work — with the former often coming from speakers in their early-20s. Also, Shanghainese announcements are now heard on several of the city’s buses, a recent development heralded as an important step to keep the language alive. There are also plenty of Shanghainese radio and television programs.
Finally, I can’t help but wonder if the new-found emphasis on Shanghainese reflects a sense of anxiety among the people of Shanghai themselves. As Ge mentions, migrants are increasingly finding success and rising to high-status positions in the city. Migrants are gaining in many areas where Shanghainese might have once fancied themselves leaders. Could the current discourse on the local dialect be a way to reassert identity and reestablish their unique character?
As this discussion continues, I would encourage people to look carefully at assumptions which are taken for granted.
The author is a copy editor at Shanghai Daily.
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