Mandopop's English enigma: Language choices, identity politics, and global forces
| dc.contributor.author | Loh, Madison | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-04-23T17:48:43Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-04-23T17:48:43Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This project examines Mandopop's "English enigma": if English circulates so widely in East Asian pop industries such as K-pop and J-pop, why does it remain comparatively selective in contemporary Mandarin chart music, and what does that selectivity reveal about language, identity, and cultural positioning? Framed by theories of cultural hybridity and glocalization, the study treats English not simply as a linguistic feature, but as a symbolic resource shaped by global pop flows and local cultural priorities. Methodologically, I built a corpus from the TME UNI and TME Wave annual rankings, collected and cross-referenced lyrics from major online databases, and coded songs line by line for English presence. English-containing lines were then analyzed by linguistic form, sub-form, and pragmatic function. The findings show that English in Mandopop is limited in quantity but purposeful in use: it is typically brief, salient, and written-for-speaking, most often appearing in single words and clauses that serve expressive, phatic, and directive functions. Overall, the project argues that Mandopop negotiates global influence selectively, incorporating English in ways that enhance style, affect, and a sense of marketable modernity while preserving Mandarin as the central linguistic and cultural frame. | |
| dc.description.reviewstatus | Reviewed | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Undergraduate | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23706 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of Victoria | |
| dc.subject | English mixing | |
| dc.subject | cultural hybridity | |
| dc.subject | glocalization | |
| dc.subject | identity construction | |
| dc.subject | nativization | |
| dc.subject | code-ambiguation | |
| dc.subject | Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA) | |
| dc.subject.department | Department of Pacific and Asian Studies | |
| dc.title | Mandopop's English enigma: Language choices, identity politics, and global forces | |
| dc.type | Poster |