LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION AND IDENTITY POLITICS: AN EXAMINATION OF SIRAYA RECLAMATION IN TAIWAN By CHUN (JIMMY) HUANG A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Chun (Jimmy) Huang 2 To my Siraya family and friends, and my grandparents 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT Ursula K. Le Guin once wrote, ―Like and difference are quickening words, brooding and hatching. Better and worse are eggsucking words, they leave only the shell.‖ Such is the value I hope to represent in this work, a value the fullness of which I have only learnt from Dr. M. J. Hardman. I thank Dr. Hardman for being a great teacher, a mentor, and a loving grandmother for me, as well as for teaching me about worlds and worldsenses that are always diverse, plural, and equally valuable. Indeed, she has made me who I am, not only as a researcher but also as an honest human being. Without Dr. Hardman, this work would never be possible. I would also like to thank my other committee members for their continuous support and endless patience towards me. Dr. Blondeau has taught me a great deal about language policy and planning, and she has read my manuscript on the matter and given me invaluable comments. Dr. Boxer is the reason I decided to come to the University of Florida in the first place. She has guided me throughout my doctoral career. Dr. LoCastro has helped me in so many ways in and outside of school that I cannot thank her enough. I will always miss our conversations in her office, CDA Study Group, and Thanksgiving dinners. Dr. Peir and his wife Zhang Laoshi have taken me into their home for several Lunar New Year celebrations. They are like my family in Gainesville. I must thank Uma, Edgar, Agoan, Peichen, Chaokai, and everyone in the Tainan Pepo Siraya Culture Association. Their dedication to awakening and continuing the Siraya culture is the biggest inspiration for my work. I cannot wait to rejoin them. My indigenous activist friends Dr. Wesley Leonard, Dr. Rolland Nadjiwon, Richard Zane Smith, and Heather Souter, have shared with me the invaluable experiences of their peoples. And most importantly, they remind me that the Siraya people and I are not alone. Other friends, Dr. Alice Taff, Dr. Bill Rubink 4 (Uncle Bill), Dr. Daniel Kaufman, Dr. Margaret Florey, Dr. Oliver Streiter, Jennifer Teeter, Takayuki Okazaki, and Yuka Hayashi, have also had discussions with me on various issued related to indigenous rights and/or cultural continuation, which I truly appreciate. My parents and my sister Ping have provided me a worry-free life. Their support has made my pursuit of an academic career possible. And, I thank my fiancée Machel Malay for the love and also for inspiring me in various aspects of life, including science, politics, culture, art, and countless others. I am honored to have been funded by Foundation for Endangered Languages, Taiwanese- American Foundation of Boston, and Tybel Spivak Scholarship Fund for Anthropological Linguistics at various stages of this work. I thank their trust and generosity. I would like to thank my friends: Priyankoo Sarmah, Mutsuo Nakamura, Belle, Forrest, and Fame Laphasradakul, Carolina Gutierrez, Sean, Ahyea, and Sarah Park, Sakib, Siddrat, John Foster and Ying, Rui Cao, and Binmei Liu; Robert Andrew Gibson, Sluggo, Wally, Omi, Donna and Howard Holcomb, Marino, Jessica York, Meatball, Four Twenty, Two Ten, and Emerald; Melissa Lane, Amy Ongiri, Bessie Ongiri, and Kai Bittermann; Chelsey Campbell, Michael Crandell, Robert Lasley, Sun Kim, Patricia Cabezas Padilla, François Michonneau, Jenna Moore, and John and Jodi Slapcinsky; Fongyi, Ben Wu, Noah Weller, Peter Barry, Steve Na, and Troy; Ai Laoshi, David Borenstein, John Garnetti and Shaochun Hsu, Mike Horn, Mike Smith, Brian Borse, Cindy Chan, Rob Sharr, Mi Niko, Ben Klein, Tina Chen, and all my former and current students. Each one of them is unique and has brought warmth and joy to my life in Gainesville. Last but not least, place means a lot to me; it is crucial for me to always have a sense of belonging. Gainesville has really become my favorite place in the world. I thank it and the following locations and/or persons associated with it: Paynes Prairie, Gainesville-Hawthorne 5 Trail, San Felasco, Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Ichetucknee Springs, Flaco‘s, La Tienda, Pho Hanoi, Satchel‘s, Ward‘s, Common Grounds, The Atlantic, The Top, Tim & Terry‘s, Java Lounge, Deja Brew, Anthem Tattoo Parlor, Hippodrome State Theatre, Umoja Orchestra, Against Me!, Whiskey & Co., Michael Claytor & His Friends, Harry Crews (and Steve Flocks who introduced Crews to me), and Willie Green. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENT..................................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................12 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................13 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 1 LANGUAGE ECOLOGY OF TAIWAN ...............................................................................16 Introduction .............................................................................................................................16 Taiwan: A Colonial History ....................................................................................................18 Taiwan Prehistory ............................................................................................................18 The Dutch Period (1623-1661) ........................................................................................19 The Zheng Period (1662-1683) .......................................................................................21 The Qing Period (1684-1895) .........................................................................................23 The Japanese Period (1895-1945) ...................................................................................27 The Republic of China Period (1945-Today) ..................................................................28 The Languages and Speech Communities in Today‘s Taiwan ...............................................30 The Austronesian Languages ..........................................................................................30 The Han Languages .........................................................................................................32 Hakka .......................................................................................................................33 Mandarin and the Mainlanders .................................................................................36 Southern Min ............................................................................................................38 Other languages ........................................................................................................40 For Diversity and a Healthy Environment ..............................................................................41 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................45 Nationalism and Political Discourse .......................................................................................45 The Hegemony of Nationalism .......................................................................................45 Analyzing Political Discourse .........................................................................................47 Agent and structure ..................................................................................................47 7 Micro- and macro- analysis ......................................................................................52 Local and global .......................................................................................................55 Discussion ................................................................................................................59 Language and Worldsense ......................................................................................................62 Phonology ........................................................................................................................63 Morphology .....................................................................................................................65 Syntax ..............................................................................................................................68 Semantics and Pragmatics ...............................................................................................71 Discourse and Other Language Practices ........................................................................74 The discursive use of ―we‖ .......................................................................................75 Naming .....................................................................................................................76 Conclusion: Cultural Emes ..............................................................................................78 Language Policy and Planning ...............................................................................................79