Dr. Judith M. S. Pine, of Western Washington University, will undertake research on the use and impact of internationally available media in minority languages to create a common identity for minority communities that reside in different nation states and practice different religions. The research will be conducted among people who call themselves Lahu, and who speak various dialects of this Tibeto-Burman language. Lahu speakers live in rural agricultural villages, small cities and metropolises throughout Southeast Asia and southwest China. But Lahu people today also use a wide variety of shared media, including cassette tapes, CDs and VCDs, newsletters and books, radio programs and the Internet.
The researcher will investigate whether Lahu-language media create a common sense of Lahu-ness that cross-cuts their diverse, distinct relationships with particular nation-states and religions. The researcher and her field team will interview and record Lahu-speaking media producers and media consumers in both Thailand and China. The primary methodology to be employed is a painstaking sociolinguistic technique called frame analysis, which will be used to analyze both the media and the researchers' field recordings of native speakers discussing Lahu language media.
This research will enhance social scientific understanding of how minority populations who live in different countries but speak a common language may transcend geographic, political, and ideological boundaries through the use of modern media. This knowledge will have practical application, especially for those who are designing public health or public education programs targeting stateless or indigenous populations.
The Lahu Media Project is an on-going, multi-site study of the circulation of minority language media, specifically Lahu language media, throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion, an area which includes mainland Southeast Asia and the southwest region of China, in particular Yunnan province. The purpose of the project was to collect information on the circulation of Lahu language entertainment media in the Greater Mekong Subregion, and particularly in rural areas of northern Thailand and Yunnan Province, China. NSF funded data collection for this project took place in Thailand and in Yunnan, PRC from 2009-2011. Cataloguing and analysis of this data was funded through the 2012-13 academic year. Lahu is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by an estimated 800,000 people. The majority of Lahu speakers live in China, with significant populations in Thailand and Myanmar and smaller groups in Vietnam, Laos, Australia and the U.S. Impact. Although formal channels for circulation of Lahu language media are limited, the project discovered that media in the form of music, music videos and feature films, was being produced and distributed throughout the region through an array of informal channels. These media products are being distributed and consumed by Lahu speakers from diverse sub-groups. The popularity of this media and its widespread and diverse distribution support the claim that this media is able to compete with the professionally produced and widely distributed media in dominant languages. Exploration of this media has thus far also supported the hypothesis that this media gains its importance from something other than a shared political identity. Interview and participant observation data indicate that Lahu speakers from various political backgrounds share an enjoyment of Lahu language media. Preliminary analysis of songs and videos on the topic of Lahu identity indicate that Lahu song writers and media producers operate with the understanding that Lahu identity and language is worthy of preservation, and that Lahu speakers should promote and support Lahu identity. There is, however, no sense in these media that such an identity would require a shared political entity such as a Lahu state or nation. As a result of Lahu Media Project research, we are now aware of a widespread network of media circulation which crosses borders, linking individuals and communities who share linguistic and cultural identity. The mechanisms through which Lahu language media is able to connect Lahu speakers, creating a shared cultural identity but not a shared political identity, may be a product of the nature of traditional Lahu political practice. Ongoing analysis of the data collected through the project, as well as data collected in the future, will have two foci: semiotic analysis and the impact of growing access to digital media through the Internet, especially the capacity for individuals living in rural areas and in relative poverty to consume, circulate and even produce media. The semiotic elements of the media, the multiple ways in which the media conveys meanings, is a topic of considerable interest and has already resulted in conference papers and an invitation to submit an article as part of a special number of the journal Semiotic Inquiry. That article has been reviewed and revised and is pending final acceptance. A paper exploring the use of YouTube as a platform for Lahu language media was presented at the International Conference for International Relations and Development (ICIRD) in Bangkok in August 2013. This project has benefited education in the U.S. and abroad in a number of ways. Material from the project has been integrated into class and other presentations made by the PI. The grant included an Undergraduate Research Assistant position, and three undergraduate students held this position, receiving hands-on training in digital data management and analysis. Research assistants in China and Thailand received hands-on training in ethnographic data collection, and students at Western Washington University, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, PRC, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand, and Chiangmai University, Chiangmai, Thailand attended presentations of material from this project. Further collaboration with faculty at these universities is under discussion at this time. Insights from this project contribute to our scientific understanding of the impact of the Internet on the preservation and revitalizations of currently endangered languages. It provides insights into the impact of the Internet on culture and on the political aspirations of minority people and its relationship to popular media. The ongoing analysis of this media may also contribute to the development of community engagement efforts using local language and media sensibilities (such as for health programs). Further, this analysis will assist scholars working to promote maintenance and revitalization of other currently endangered languages. The research also provides preliminary information on the process and impact of digital media circulation in minority communities, identifying areas which will benefit from additional research.
