Book chapter
Learning from language revitalization movements to promote Uyghur language resilience in diaspora
The Routledge Handbook of Endangered and Minority Languages, pp 140-154
2025
Abstract
Increasingly repressive government policies in China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) target many aspects of Uyghur cultural expression, including language. As a result, some have deemed the current situation for Uyghurs in their homeland a 'cultural genocide'. Uyghurs in diaspora now have the burden of maintaining their culture, as there are ever fewer legal opportunities to do so today in the XUAR. Yet without intentional action, the Uyghur culture and language could be at risk of dying out within the next generation. This chapter will explore the threats to Uyghur language in the XUAR and actions being taken within the Uyghur diaspora in Türkiye to maintain the language outside of China. Based on their contextual similarities, this chapter provides recommendations on how this Uyghur community can work strategically to reverse the language shift by comparing it with the successful revitalization movements of the Aymara language. The chapter is based on fieldwork conducted in Türkiye and XUAR as well as publicly available information on the Aymara language revitalization efforts.
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Details
- Title
- Learning from language revitalization movements to promote Uyghur language resilience in diaspora
- Creators
- Rebecca ClotheyBrian McCommons
- Contributors
- Weixiao Wei (Editor)James Schnell (Editor)
- Publication Details
- The Routledge Handbook of Endangered and Minority Languages, pp 140-154
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Edition
- 1
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Policy, Organization, and Leadership; Global Studies and Modern Languages; School of Education
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85216032246
- Other Identifier
- 991022020437504721