Division of Humanities Seminar - Kongish: Expressing Modern Identities in Hong Kong through Linguistic Creativity

Abstract:

This talk introduces Kongish as a translingual and multimodal urban dialect emerging in Hong Kong in recent years. Through the lens of translanguaging and linguistic commodification, and using the popular Facebook page Kongish Daily as a case in point, it outlines the semiotic profile of Kongish. It examines how Kongish communications draw on a full range of performative resources, thriving on social media affordances and a creative-critical ethos. The study then turns to look at how Kongish is commoditized in a marketing context in the form of playful epithets emplaced on locally designed products, demonstrating how the urban dialect is not merely a niche medium of communication on social media, but has become integral to commercial, profit-driven practices. By challenging the proposition that Kongish must be considered a 'variety' of English, it is argued instead that it is an innominate term embodying translanguaging-in-action.

Biography:

Pedro is an English lecturer at the School of Arts and Humanities at Tung Wah College. He served as a member of the eTeaching Literacy project funded by the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS), and is currently the coordinator of the Language Buddy Programme at the Centre for Academic and Professional Language Enhancement (CAPLE).