The Politics of Script and Language : Transformations of Sinographs and Literary Sinitic in Twentieth-Century East Asia (Language, Writing and Literary Culture in the Sinographic Cosmopolis)

For over a millennium, sinographs and Literary Sinitic dominated written communication across East Asia. Yet within the span of a single century, their prominence unraveled. This edited volume explores how the seismic upheavals of the twentieth century, especially the turbulent currents of imperialism and nationalism, hastened the eclipse of sinographs as a common script and ended the role of Literary Sinitic as a scripta franca. It illuminates both the convergencies and divergences in how East Asian societies transformed their scripts and languages in response to shared historical contingencies.

Contributors are: Fei Chen, Chien-shou Chen, Gina Anne Tam, Tze-ki Hon, Hok-yin Chan, Yuen Mei Fanny Li, Edoardo Gerlini, Kimiko Kono, Daniel Pieper, and Ross King.