Musing on the Sinophone: From Pulai to Portland and Beyond

Authors

Sharon Carstens, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.Follow

Abstract

The Sinophone has become an increasingly visible term in scholarly publications with a wide range of applications and meanings. This paper begins with an examination of definitions associated with the Sinophone, comparing it with key alternative Chinese studies frameworks and with the seemingly parallel concepts of Francophone and Anglophone, which display strategic differences. Adopting an historic and ethnographic view of the Sinophone, the paper’s second section demonstrates how languages made a difference in the long-term adaptations of overseas Chinese in two distinctly different settings: Pulai, Malaysia, and Portland, Oregon in the U.S. The paper’s final section explores the future of the Sinophone, focusing on the challenges of retaining Sinitic language abilities beyond the first generation of overseas residence, drawing on the literature of minority language retention.

Recommended Citation

Carstens, Sharon (2022) "Musing on the Sinophone: From Pulai to Portland and Beyond," Malaysian Journal of Chinese Studies: Vol. 11: No. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://mjcs.newera.edu.my/journal/vol11/iss2/1