Change of Attitude towards Mandarin Chinese
Before the handover in 1997, it was seldom heard of Mandarin in the Hong Kong movie. The unique Hong Kong Cantonese film industry facilitated the sense of Hong Kongers' identity which is separated from the mainland Chinese. Cantonese and Mandarin are the indentiy markers to mark the identity of Hong Kongers and the identity of mainland Chinese. The users of them resisted to language accommodation to each other in order to maintain the linguistic and group differences between them.
After 1997, Hong Kong and China have a new relationship. Alongside with the growth in economic and the power of China, together with the declining film industry in Hong Kong, many Hong Kong film makers and producers resort to the Chinese market. More and more Hong Kongers notice the importance of Mandarin and the Chinese market. It is found that there is less Hong Kong cultural-specific slang and more use of "plain" language and Mandarin in the recent Hong Kong movies, for the purpose of catering the Chinese audience from mainland China.
After 1997, Hong Kong and China have a new relationship. Alongside with the growth in economic and the power of China, together with the declining film industry in Hong Kong, many Hong Kong film makers and producers resort to the Chinese market. More and more Hong Kongers notice the importance of Mandarin and the Chinese market. It is found that there is less Hong Kong cultural-specific slang and more use of "plain" language and Mandarin in the recent Hong Kong movies, for the purpose of catering the Chinese audience from mainland China.
While the movies depict the every day life of Hong Kong people, so the movies, especially the comedies can reflect the understanding of ideologies behind the day to day scenes and conversation in the movies. Since the audiences' understanding of the ideologies behind a comedy relies on shared background knowledge and information that is specific to a culture, so the comedies can most effectively show the underlying ideologies of Hong Kong cultures and the attitude of most Hong Kong people.
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Trailer of "單身男女(Don't Go Breaking My Heart)" (2011)
In this movie, there are three main characters, the leading actress(Cing) comes from mainland China and work in Hong Kong, she speaks only mandarin. Other two leading actors (Cheung and Fong) are both Hong Kong people whose mother tongue are Cantonese. Interestingly, Cheung always speaks Cantonese, even when he talks to Cing. Both of them can understand each other very well. Fong speaks in Mandarin when he talks with Cing. There are also some other characters, who switch between Cantonese and Mandarin when they are talking to Cing.
We can then observe two linguistic phenomenon here, one is the accommodation, the Cantonese speakers attempt to speak in mandarin in order to communicate with a Mandarin speaker; another one is there is a reconciliation of Hong Kongers with the linguistic difference from Mainland Chinese. HongKongers seem to be accepting and making sense of their shared group membership with Mainland Chinese unmarkedby their linguistic differences. They can communicate peacefully and successfully in their own languages. These phenomenon indicate that there is a change of attitude of Hong Kong people towards madarin, as well as their own identity recognition.
What is more, when they are in some formal situations, such as in a meeting, the characters tend to use Mandarin or English instead of Cantonese. Apart from showing that more and more mainland Chinese work in Hong Kong, it seems that Cantonese is placed in a more inferior position than Mandarin While Mandarin is the main language used in a public and formal function,Cantonese is a language used on private and informal occasions.
We can then observe two linguistic phenomenon here, one is the accommodation, the Cantonese speakers attempt to speak in mandarin in order to communicate with a Mandarin speaker; another one is there is a reconciliation of Hong Kongers with the linguistic difference from Mainland Chinese. HongKongers seem to be accepting and making sense of their shared group membership with Mainland Chinese unmarkedby their linguistic differences. They can communicate peacefully and successfully in their own languages. These phenomenon indicate that there is a change of attitude of Hong Kong people towards madarin, as well as their own identity recognition.
What is more, when they are in some formal situations, such as in a meeting, the characters tend to use Mandarin or English instead of Cantonese. Apart from showing that more and more mainland Chinese work in Hong Kong, it seems that Cantonese is placed in a more inferior position than Mandarin While Mandarin is the main language used in a public and formal function,Cantonese is a language used on private and informal occasions.
Excerpt from "美麗蜜令(Beauty on Duty)" (2010)
This woman is actually talking with a head of a government department in mainland China, so she speaks in Mandarin, yet her ability in Mandarin is not good, considered as bad Her mispronunciations are frequent and she speaks it with difficulty. However, the head in the phone can still understand her.
Although the inability in Mandarin might be regarded as the techniqe to delivery a sense of humor, it is often seen on many Hong Kong poeple indeed. The less in ability in speaking Mandarin is also a mark to distinguish between mainland Chinese and Hong Kong people.
In addition, the mainland Chinese officers shows complete understanding of her bad Mandarin also implies that both Hong Konger and the mainland Chinese show mutual accommodation and solidarity.
Although the inability in Mandarin might be regarded as the techniqe to delivery a sense of humor, it is often seen on many Hong Kong poeple indeed. The less in ability in speaking Mandarin is also a mark to distinguish between mainland Chinese and Hong Kong people.
In addition, the mainland Chinese officers shows complete understanding of her bad Mandarin also implies that both Hong Konger and the mainland Chinese show mutual accommodation and solidarity.
Interview with Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan
In this interview, he talks about how does the relation between China and Hong Kong change in terms of the film industry.