Mediating the Politics of Modern Identity through English Use in Chinese Technology Advertising

Across a large number of countries, the use of English in non-English-language advertising is often conceived as a powerful tool for constructing identities. This article aims to examine the politics of modern identity in China as constructed and normalized in Chinese-English bilingual advertising for autos in newspapers and magazines. Drawing upon a critical-cognitive approach as the result of combining critical discourse analysis and cognitive linguistics, the article focuses mainly on the examination into the social, cultural, and political meanings of modern identity, as well as how they are enacted, shaped, reinforced and legitimated through the ideology-governed application of English. The roles English may play in the constructive processes were found often complicated and fluid, which seems to be closely associated with the paradoxical attitudes and beliefs of the country towards English as a foreign language in China. The examination of modern identity politics as a discursive construction in Chinese-English auto ads has not only exemplified the social, cultural, and political meanings of modern identity in China, but has also demonstrated how the local politics of English is manifested in, and becomes an intrinsic element of, the discourse of modern identity there.