Too much dialect on the small screen

Can’t understand a word they’re saying

The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television has decided that it needs to put a stop to dialect creep.

In a short news item posted to SARFT’s website this week, a spokesperson reiterated the Administration’s rules requiring the dialogue in TV dramas to be standard Mandarin:

In a recent media interview, SARFT spokesperson Zhu Hong said that the number of TV shows making extensive use of dialect is on the rise, and some of the programs showed overlong and excessive uses of dialect not in accordance with the spirit of the country’s strong promotion of standard Mandarin and in violation of the Administration’s rules. Additionally, the practice has an effect on the audience on an aesthetic level.

Zhu Hong said that province-level radio, film, and TV administrative departments and producers needed to strictly follow the rules spelled out in SARFT document #560[2005], Notice Concerning Further Reiteration the Use of Standard Mandarin in TV Series, and more rigorously review completed TV shows. The use of standard Mandarin should predominate in shows going into production, under normal circumstances….

…

Zhu Hong stressed that the language in TV shows other than local musicals, should be predominantly standard Mandarin. In normal circumstances dialect and non-standard Mandarin should not be used. Major revolutionary and historically-themed TV shows, children’s series, and shows promoting educational content are to use Mandarin. Leaders portrayed in TV shows are to use Mandarin.

Zhu Hong’s remarks duplicate exactly the language of the 2005 notice. SARFT’s tendency to repeat itself was noted by commentators earlier this year when the administration reminded broadcasters that celebrity scandals were not supposed to be sensationalized.

Local dialects can add color to dialogue that’s predominantly in Mandarin, but major characters are supposed to have standard speech. This presents difficulties for the accurate, lifelike portrayal of many of China’s founding leaders, such as Mao Zedong (from Hunan) and Deng Xiaoping (from Sichuan).

A commentary piece in today’s Chinese Business View elaborates on the problem:

It’s not easy being SARFT. For a decade it’s been working hard on a single problem: correcting the speech of “leaders” on the TV screen from dialect to standard Mandarin. To that end, SARFT spokesperson Zhu Hong recently issued two rules: Major revolutionary and historically-themed TV shows must use standard Mandarin, and leaders portrayed in TV shows must use standard Mandarin. The thought occurs to us that we heard identical language back in 2005, and someone looked it up and found that the rule had already appeared sometime back in the 80s or 90s. It’s just that the “leaders” haven’t been listening.

All of these repeated orders suggests that there is fertile ground for rule-breaking. One online poll showed 64% of respondents opposed to the rule, some of whom said that Grandpa Mao speaking standard Mandarin doesn’t seem like Grandpa Mao anymore, and others who said that Grandpa Deng speaking standard Mandarin doesn’t seem as kindly. These results could be termed “discordant,” if you want to be blunt, or else “the will of the people,” if you want to put a positive spin on things.

We’re all used to “flavorful” dialect accents. I can’t imagine what it would be like to listen to Chairman Mao stand on the Tian’anmen rostrum and proclaim the founding of the government of the People’s Republic of China in a Luo Jing-style standard accent, nor can I think of what Commander Chen Yi’s long, drawn out “What?” would turn into in standard Mandarin. Ni Ping even said, “There’s a loss in verisimilitude when leaders speak Mandarin,” and the actor Lu Qi said, “Without using dialect when playing Deng Xiaoping, it’s hard to embody the charm of the great man.”

Sure, there are some obedient comrades. Tang Guoqiang, for example, faced the pressure and played a Mao Zedong who spoke standard Mandarin, and people apparently found it quite pleasant. And by placing different versions next to each other, people are able to point out problems with the “dialect version”: why does Chairman Mao speak Hunanese but his family Mandarin? Why does Deng Xiaoping speak Sichuanese, but Liu Bocheng, also from Sichuan, speaks standard Mandarin? A new problem for old revolutionaries. This is evidently something that actors who support dialect have to consider.

So, who tells “leaders” what to say? SARFT shouldn’t apply a single rule to all situations, so why not let the audience, or the market, or artistic needs decide? Dialects are part of the languages of China, and it’s fine if you want to guide things along. When a hundred voices clamor at once, the friction will naturally point things in a particular direction. We must have faith in the vitality of Mandarin while we take our time to make plans rather than being anxious to get it all done at once.

There’s one other thing we’ve got to figure out: we can’t imagine that relying on dialect-speaking leaders as Mandarin promoters will result in the successful promotion of Mandarin. Mandarin must be spread first before we’ll get leaders who speak good Mandarin. Look at how today’s “leaders” all speak Mandarin. A few decades from now when actors recreate historic roles, there won’t be anymore debate over dialect vs. Mandarin. When solving historical problems, time is a very useful thing.