Analysis of Anti-Languages in Chinese Raps
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US-China Foreign Language, ISSN 1539-8080 April 2014, Vol. 12, No. 4, 276-283 D DAVID PUBLISHING Analysis of Anti-languages in Chinese Raps LI Kun-mei Nanfang College of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China This paper takes the anti-language (sometimes semi-antilanguage) in Chinese raps as an example to present the anti-language and the related anti-society. Rap as a music genre landed China with the coming of reform ad opening up. In the past decades, because of its distinct characteristics, e.g., strong emotional expression, apparent resistance, rebellious spirit, fashionable languages, though it is not in the mainstream music in China, it wins gradual acceptance from the Chinese “GenY” generation. Based on Halliday’s (1976) anti-language theory, this paper steps into the counter-cultural society by analyzing some representative raps and presents how anti-language provides a mode of resistance against the mainstream culture. This study could help readers grasp the meanings and social functions of language more accurately and accordingly have a better understanding of the functions of anti-languages and the minority social groups as well. Keywords: anti-language, anti-society, Chinese rap Introduction Rap consumers in China are a group called the cool “GenY” generation. The cool “GenY” generation, labeled to be linglei (other species) by people like critics and scholars, is a continuation of the assumedly critical and rebellious spirit of the 1980s (balinghou) and 1990s (jiulinghou). This new generation of “little emperors or empresses”, as they are often cynically referred to, mainly comes from one-child families, born in a country which is opening up, increasingly prosperous and abundant, particularly in the urban areas. Rap is rich in non-standard forms. The non-standard forms (e.g., spelling) are usually used deliberately by lyricists and rappers for certain purposes, e.g., to demonstrate a positive evaluation on the unusual speech forms that characterize rap, to highlight the phonological, grammatical, and syntactic features. It is argued that the non-standard conventions employed in rap lyrics function to create, sustain, integrate, or cement the minority community which may be labeled as an “anti-society”. With the revolution of modern technology, on the one hand, commercialization as well as media transmission brought great momentum to the popularization of raps, but also on the other hand, highlighted the attack on such serious social problems as racism, sexism, materialism, violence, and inequality (de Kloet, 2008). No doubt there are elements of “negative influence” in rap that alienate youth of a group from another, glorify violence and materialism, heighten anger and rebel on various levels, and further complicate mass media representations and definitions of men and women, etc.. But this is just one side. Some aspects of rap music demonstrate the distinctiveness, creativity, individuality, and resilience of a certain culture and insist LI Kun-mei, lecturer, master, Department of International Studies, Nanfang College of Sun Yat-sen University. ANALYSIS OF ANTI-LANGUAGES IN CHINESE RAPS 277 that rap music is a valid musical art form that cannot be simply discarded or dismissed or disdained (de Kloet, 2008; Krims, 2000). This study could help readers grasp the meanings and social functions of language more accurately and accordingly have a better understanding of the functions of anti-languages and the minority social groups as well. Anti-language and Anti-society The term “anti-language” is coined by Halliday (1976). It made its first appearance in his 1976 article “Anti-languages” published first in American Anthropologist. Later in 1978, it was collected in his book Language as Social Semiotic (1978). Anti-language nurtures anti-society; anti-society is a conscious alternative to the mainstream society (Halliday, 1976). The relationship between society and anti-society can be demonstrated as follows (see Figure 1): Figure 1. Society and anti-society. Source: Adapted from Halliday (1976, p. 573). An anti-society is a society that is set up within the mainstream society as a conscious alternative to it; it is a mode of resistance which may take the form either of passive symbiosis or of active hostility and even destruction; so anti-society is a society that is antithetical to the mainstream society (Halliday, 1976). Anti-society foregrounds certain elements that are of great significance to the construction or generation of anti-languages. Halliday (1976) said that though most of the evidence we have at our hands are unreliable, it is reasonable to suppose that an anti-language stands to an anti-society in much the same way as does a language to a society. Or in another word, distance between a society and its language is socio-linguistically equal between an anti-society and its anti-language. Halliday (1976) listed three examples in his article to prove that anti-language is generated by anti-society: (1) The “pelting speech” of the countercultural vagabonds or “curstiors”, which is a vast population of criminals living off the wealth of the established society; (2) The highly developed underworld language of the Calcutta underworld; and (3) The elaborated anti-language gryspserka used to describe the subculture of Polish prisons and reform schools. There is continuity between language and anti-language, society and anti-society. But there is also tension between the two pairs, reflecting that they are variants of one and the same underlying semiotics. They may express different social structures; but they are part and parcel of the same social system. For example, we know grypserka is an anti-language, but it is clearly a variant of Polish, not totally an alien language. Researches done by other scholars on anti-language include Burke and his “Language and Anti-languages in Early Modern Italy” (1981), Meek and his “Play and Paradox” (1985), Giblett and his “Childhood Language as Antilanguage” (1991), Butler and his “Exploring the Anti-languages of Ganster Rap” (1995), Tseng and his 278 ANALYSIS OF ANTI-LANGUAGES IN CHINESE RAPS “Symbolic Discourse: Mystical Writing as Anti-language” (1997), Baker and his Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Man (2002), DING and his Critical Discourse Analysis of Narrative: From Social Semiotic Perspective (2007) and “Anti-language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Marginalized Discourse” (2010), etc. Analysis of Anti-language in Chinese Raps The new “GenY” generation displays quite a complex and paradoxical image. They are accused of being selfish and overtly materialistic; they are driven by pleasure and consume cultural products, brand-names, and current styles merely to highlight their unique identity or show their lifestyle choice which is labeled to be linglei (other species) yet continue to need approval and even encourage from society, parents, and teachers (Fung, 2008). However, ironically, they are in fact perceived to be easy to get furious, overtly nationalistic, patriotic, passionate, and strong-minded at heart; they value relationships with friends and want to be trusted by parents. They want to shed the yoke of parental control and think life should be Newbee or niubi (literally, a cow vagina, metaphorically referring to cool, colorful lifestyle). In one word, it consists of reflexive linglei youngsters who skillfully navigate through modernity and prosperity. Anti-language in rap is of course one kind of language departure from normal usage. Most linguists, sociologists, and psychologists believe that such divergent language development is often a kind of passive resistance to subjugation, oppression, or cultural aggression as rap is always used as an opening by the cool “GenY” generation to let out their steam of violence, anger, etc.. So anti-languages or semi-antilanguages in rap (in the form of slangs, dialects, vulgar words, etc.) become a means of self-differentiation and generating anti-social cohesiveness that help forge group identity, enhance solidarity, and strengthen ethnic pride. Anti-language With Chineseness in Chinese Raps Anti-languages in raps serve as vehicle to gather people of the like-mindedness (the “GenY” generation) and build their counter-cultural society. Rap in China has adopted a certain degree of Chineseness in terms of its non-standard expressions and spellings. It has a significant impact by the usage of slangs and dialects and fashionable expressions, etc., in the rap lyrics. Let us see expressions used frequently in raps meaning something rude, obscene, impolite: NB or Newbee (niubi, literally, a cow’s vagina, metaphorically standing for cool and exciting), jī (originally meaning chick or chicken, now meaning prostitute), kaǐ zi (from the word “kaiser”, now referring to sucker or men cheated of money by woman), yā zi (originally meaning duck, now referring to male prostitute), mǎ zi (mǎ means horse, now meaning girlfriend, only for sex purpose), xiāng chǎng (originally meaning sausage, now metaphoric of men’s genitals), and lǎo èr (used to mean the second eldest, sexually related, now referring to penis). Besides, expressions that are rude and disrespectful, creations of words that are “made-in-China” are also worth mentioning. For example, Yin Ts’ang (Yin Cang) sings in “Yellow Road” (2003b): Tell you I am a Chinaese MC (告诉你我是一个 Chinaese MC) Chinaese MC Chinaese MC Chinaese MMMM… C ANALYSIS OF ANTI-LANGUAGES IN CHINESE RAPS 279 The rapper here replaced “Chinese” with “Chinaese”. Though the overtone behind this is controversial, it certainly successfully signifies innovation and unusuality. In another example, rapper Yin Ts’ang sings in his song “Welcome to Beijing” (2003a): In Beijing, 2008 Olympic games (在北京，2008年的奥运会) In Beijing, (the city is) built more and more cei (在北京，建得越来越cei) In Beijing, beautiful village is close to smelly river (在北京，有村也有臭河) In Beijing, bicycle stealing is not uncommon (在北京，大多都丢自行车) In Beijing, (there is) the NB Great Wall (在北京，中国NB的长城) In the above lines, we underline cei (in third tone in modern Mandarin) and NB.