- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804761642
- eISBN:
- 9780804772358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804761642.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter shows that the interactional order in Cantonese courtrooms is inchoate and flexible. At times, it allows litigants to bring the constitutive dispositions of everyday life into the ...
More
This chapter shows that the interactional order in Cantonese courtrooms is inchoate and flexible. At times, it allows litigants to bring the constitutive dispositions of everyday life into the courtroom or to deploy storytelling practices that situate their personal experiences within local contexts. The discussion considers the social demography of the Cantonese courtrooms, bilingualism and the preservation of the common law, Cantonese in the Hong Kong legal system, and cross-examination in the Cantonese courtrooms.Less
This chapter shows that the interactional order in Cantonese courtrooms is inchoate and flexible. At times, it allows litigants to bring the constitutive dispositions of everyday life into the courtroom or to deploy storytelling practices that situate their personal experiences within local contexts. The discussion considers the social demography of the Cantonese courtrooms, bilingualism and the preservation of the common law, Cantonese in the Hong Kong legal system, and cross-examination in the Cantonese courtrooms.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804761642
- eISBN:
- 9780804772358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804761642.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter presents a detailed ethnographic account of juridical formalism in the English language courtrooms of Hong Kong. It describes the myriad of linguistic possibilities in English and ...
More
This chapter presents a detailed ethnographic account of juridical formalism in the English language courtrooms of Hong Kong. It describes the myriad of linguistic possibilities in English and Cantonese courtrooms by analyzing how different interactional structures are enacted there. It argues that English and Cantonese courtrooms invoke two visibly different interaction structures for legal processes. In contrast to the highly structured and semantically focused interactions characteristic of English trials, courtroom interactions in Cantonese trials exhibit a more opaque, playful style that borrows features from everyday conversation.Less
This chapter presents a detailed ethnographic account of juridical formalism in the English language courtrooms of Hong Kong. It describes the myriad of linguistic possibilities in English and Cantonese courtrooms by analyzing how different interactional structures are enacted there. It argues that English and Cantonese courtrooms invoke two visibly different interaction structures for legal processes. In contrast to the highly structured and semantically focused interactions characteristic of English trials, courtroom interactions in Cantonese trials exhibit a more opaque, playful style that borrows features from everyday conversation.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804761642
- eISBN:
- 9780804772358
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804761642.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter explains why legal bilingualism in Hong Kong means far more than the introduction of another language into the legal system. It describes what happens in Cantonese and English ...
More
This chapter explains why legal bilingualism in Hong Kong means far more than the introduction of another language into the legal system. It describes what happens in Cantonese and English courtrooms, the social character of institutions, the status of legal bilingualism, the challenges of Cantonese as a legal language, the common law system in Hong Kong, and the rule of law on colonial Hong Kong. It also presents an overview of the topics and defines the coverage of the common law, civil cases, the Hong Kong legal system, and the English legal system.Less
This chapter explains why legal bilingualism in Hong Kong means far more than the introduction of another language into the legal system. It describes what happens in Cantonese and English courtrooms, the social character of institutions, the status of legal bilingualism, the challenges of Cantonese as a legal language, the common law system in Hong Kong, and the rule of law on colonial Hong Kong. It also presents an overview of the topics and defines the coverage of the common law, civil cases, the Hong Kong legal system, and the English legal system.
