Linguascaping the Other: Travelogues’ representations of Chinese languages

Abstract

AbstractThis article examines how the travel sections of China Daily (CD) appropriate dominant tourism discourses in representing Chinese languages. Incorporating language ideology into critical discourse analysis, an examination of 223 CD travelogues reveals three discourse strands: naming Chinese cuisine, referring to Chinese languages, and metapragmatic comments on Chinese languages. It is argued that CD’s touristic representations of Chinese languages constitute part of the repertoire of dominant tourism discourses rather than a challenge or resistance against them, and CD travel writing does constitute a voice in the “contact zone,” which, however, speaks in a language that is essentially complicit in Othering China for tourist consumption.