In the process of China’s urbanization, the migrant population increases rapidly and immigrants of various kinds have received much attention in the past few decades. This study focuses on low-skilled immigrants or migrant workers in Beijing. Although migrant workers are mostly employed in industrial and services sectors, many of them are registered as “peasants” in Hukou (the household registration system), and therefore are usually labeled as “peasant workers”. However, some believe that the term is inappropriate and point out that it reflects their difficult situation in the urban settings. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a Beijing urban village, this study collects and analyzes linguistic landscape data, interview transcripts, and observation diaries, and discusses migrant workers’ identity construction through their language use. The research finds that the migrant workers made efforts to shrug off the unwanted identity label of “peasant workers” and their children demonstrated strong identification with the urban society. However, they are treated differently from urban citizens in many ways and have a long way to go before they are recognized as true workers.
Key words
urbanization /
peasant workers /
discursive identity construction /
ethnographic fieldwork
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.title}}
{{custom_sec.content}}
References
蔡 鹏,严 荣 2020 《新市民的住房问题及其解决路径》,《同济大学学报(社会科学版)》第1期。
陈胜昌,等 2005 《城市化的国际经验与中国城市化进程和战略》,载中国生产力协会《2004中国生产力发展研究报告》,北京:中国统计出版社。
董 洁 2011 《北京农民工子弟语言使用与身份认同调查》,载教育部语言文字信息管理司《中国语言生活状况报告2011》。北京:商务印书馆。
董 洁 2014 《民族志研究视角下的语言身份认同:两例北京农民工子女个案》。《语言学研究》第1期。
董 洁 2016 《“城市新移民”的语言身份认同》,《语言战略研究》第1期。
付义荣 2016 《中国新生代农民工的语言使用与社会认同》,北京:中国社会科学出版社。
黄典林 2013 《从“盲流”到“新工人阶级”——近三十年〈人民日报〉新闻话语对农民工群体的意识形态重构》,《现代传播》第9期。
蒋飞云 2019 《新时代文化育人促进新市民文明素质提升研究》,《长沙大学学报》第6期。
刘玉屏 2010 《城市适应:农民工语言行为研究》,北京:中央民族大学出版社。
吕 途 2013 《中国新工人:迷失与崛起》,北京:法律出版社。
吕 途 2014 《中国新工人:文化与命运》,北京:法律出版社。
吕 途 2017 《中国新工人:女工传记》,北京:生活·读书·新知三联书店。
石 凤 2018 《广西新生代农民工语言状况及城市融入调查研究》,《智库时代》第33期。
宋 晖 2013 《当代新型劳工文化的主体建构与传播:以北京皮村为例》,《中国劳动关系学院学报》第6期。
汪 晖 2014 《两种新穷人及其未来——阶级政治的衰落、再形成与新穷人的尊严政治》,《开放时代》第6期。
王晓华 2019 《新市民子女融入性养成教育的路径探索》,《教育观察》第21期。
夏 历 2007 《在京农民工语言状况研究》,中国传媒大学博士学位论文。
夏 历 2017 《农民工语言城市化研究》,北京:中国社会科学出版社。
袁长庚 2015 《怎样讲述“新工人”:当代史、新农村与世界经验》,《中国图书评论》第5期。
Agha, A. 2003. The social life of cultural value. Language & Communication 23 (3–4), 231–273.
Bateman, N. & G. Milne. 1983. A Roman harbour in London; Excavations and observations near Pudding Lane, City of London 1979–82. Britannia 14, 207–226.
Berry, J. W. 2005. Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 29(6), 697–712.
Blommaert, J. 2005. Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. 1987. In other words. In: J. Revel & L. Hunt (eds.), Histories. French Constructions of the Past, 514–520. New York: The New Press.
De Fina, A., D. Schiffrin & M. Bamberg. 2006. Introduction. In: A. De Fina (ed.), Discourse and Identity, 1–23. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dong, J. 2009. ‘Isn’t it enough to be a Chinese speaker’: Language ideology and migrant identity construction in a public primary school in Beijing. Language & Communication 29(2), 115–126.
Dong, J. 2011. Discourse, Identity, and China’s Internal Migration: The Long March to the City. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Dong, J. 2013. When modern public space encounters postmodern migration: Abnormality and the making of migrant identities. Sociolinguistic Studies 6(2), 239–258.
Dong, J. 2017. The Sociolinguistics of Voice in Globalising China. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Sociolinguistics-of-Voice-in-Globalising-China/Dong/p/book/9781138798809.
Dong, J. 2020. Global learning from the periphery: An ethnographic study of a Chinese urban migrant school. Sustainability 12(1), 381.
Dong, J. & J. Blommaert. 2009. Space, scale and accents: Constructing migrant identity in Beijing. Multilingua 28(1), 1–24.
Sun, W. 2014. Subaltern China: Rural Migrants, Media, and Cultural Practice. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
Zhang, Q. 2005. A Chinese yuppie in Beijing: Phonological variation and the construction of a new professional identity. Language in Society 34, 431–466.