New Approaches to Mother-Tongue Transmission in a Multimedia Context: The Case of Naxi
This 2014 article by Zhu Yongqiang (Minzu University of China) examines how multimedia is creating new channels for Naxi mother-tongue transmission as tourism-driven migration erodes Lijiang's traditional language ecology. It profiles Lijiang's "Yaomei Creative Studio," which since 2013 has produced Naxi-dubbed video shorts of popular films, including a serialized dub of "Lost on Journey" whose ten released episodes drew hundreds of thousands of views across web and WeChat -- more views for episode one than the entire Naxi population. The dubbing deliberately layers in multiple Naxi and Chinese sub-dialects (Heqing, Tacheng, Dayan, and others) for comic and local-knowledge effect, drawing both Naxi and neighboring-dialect audiences. The author argues these grassroots multimedia efforts succeed where formal school-based heritage-language programs often stall, and calls for using contemporary technology and an active stance to reinforce Naxi ethnic identity for younger generations.
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