Moser, David. A billion voices: China’s search for a common language. Penguin Books, 2016. 100 p. ISBN : 978-0-7343-9959-5
Mandarin, Guoyu or Putonghua? ‘Chinese’ is a language known by many names, and China is a country home to many languages. Since the turn of the twentieth century linguists and politicians have been on a mission to create a common language for China. From the radical intellectuals of the May Fourth Movement, to leaders such as Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, all fought linguistic wars to push the boundaries of language reform. Now, Internet users take the Chinese language in new and unpredictable directions. David Moser tells the remarkable story of China’s language unification agenda and its controversial relationship with modern politics, challenging our conceptions of what it means to speak and be Chinese.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante : Monique Abud (24 mai 2016). A Billion Voices: China’s Search for a Common Language. ChinElectrodoc. Consulté le 18 juillet 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/mqvh
Ce blog a pour but de partager notre veille sur le monde chinois : annonces d’événements en France, nouvelles publications sur support papier ou électronique. Il fait suite au blog Actualités scientifiques sur la Chine.
Mandarin, Guoyu or Putonghua? ‘Chinese’ is a language known by many names, and China is a country home to many languages. Since the turn of the twentieth century linguists and politicians have been on a mission to create a common language for China. From the radical intellectuals of the May Fourth Movement, to leaders such as Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, all fought linguistic wars to push the boundaries of language reform. Now, Internet users take the Chinese language in new and unpredictable directions. David Moser tells the remarkable story of China’s language unification agenda and its controversial relationship with modern politics, challenging our conceptions of what it means to speak and be Chinese.
