The Discursive Construction of Vietnamese Communities in Czechia and Poland in the Genre of Documentary Films

The Discursive Construction of Vietnamese Communities in Czechia and Poland in the Genre of Documentary Films Sylva Švejdarová ABSTRACT: This article examines the discursive construction of Vietnamese communities in Czechia and Poland via narratives of the communities’ ordinary members in documentary films. The theoretical framework employed is critical discourse analysis (CDA), and, in particular, the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA). I focus on two full-length documentary films, Banana Children in Czechia and Warsawers in Poland. These films are assessed and compared regarding their overall style and regarding the discourse topics. I analyse the referential and predicational strategies within the discourse topic of identity. Finally, I link the analysis of identities with the general social and legislative situation of the immigrant communities in the two host countries. KEY WORDS / KLÍČOVÁ SLOVA: critical discourse analysis, Discourse-Historical Approach, discourse topics, documentary films, identity narratives, immigrant communities, predicational strategies, referential strategies diskurzivně-historický přístup, diskurzivní témata, dokumentární filmy, kritická analýza diskurzu, narativy formující identitu, imigrantské komunity, predikační strategie, referenční strategie 1. INTRODUCTION This article looks at the discursive construction of the Vietnamese communities in Czechia and Poland through the discourses of ordinary members of the communities in selected documentary films. The analysis aims to answer the following research question: How are the Vietnamese communities in Czechia and Poland discursively constructed in documentary films? I have become interested in this research question as part of my wider research on linguistic and cultural rights of immigrant communities as compared to autochthonous national minorities in international law and in the national legislatures of Czechia and Poland. The position of immigrant communities under international law is ambiguous. Similarly, the domestic laws of the two countries are often unclear and not detailed enough, and, subsequently, the practical application of these laws is not yet fully settled. I have formed a hypothesis that the discursive construction of the observed communities contributes to forming their position in the national legislatures of the two countries. My objective is to analyse how immigrant community members themselves perceive their identities. I therefore focus on identity narratives of the characters of OPEN ACCESS 12 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 two full-length documentary films, Banana Children (Banánové děti) in Czechia and Warsawers (Warszawiacy) in Poland. I aim to discover whether these speakers identify themselves as immigrants, minority members, or members of the mainstream societies, and how they view the relations between the communities they represent and the wider publics. I have decided to focus on these two countries, because I have had some previous empirical knowledge of the situation of minorities and their linguistic rights therein. Additionally, these two countries share some similarities in their histories and provide an area for interesting contrast and comparison. I concentrate on the Vietnamese communities in both states, because they are numerically the largest immigrant groups, and their history and present position in the territories of the host states is similar. 2. METHODOLOGY 2.1 CDA AS A METHOD I apply the approach and methods of CDA (critical discourse analysis), which enables me to address the problems of “social discrimination” (Meyer, 2001, p. 15) among various groups of immigrants and between the immigrant and non-immigrant national communities. As Meyer (ibid., p. 14) notes, CDA is an “approach” to research, which influences the individual research methods employed in a project. Within CDA, the DHA (Discourse-Historical Approach) is most fitting for the research problem, because it understands context as mainly historical (ibid., p. 26) and because it focuses on the field of politics. For the DHA, language is not seen as “powerful on its own”, but is understood as gaining power through its usage by “powerful” actors (ibid., p. 88). I employ the DHA to explore the referential and predicational discursive strategies in the narrations of immigrant representatives in film documentaries. 2.2 THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS IN DHA In the first step of the three-dimensional analysis, I assess the two films according to their overall style. I take into account their creators, the typical characters appearing in them and how they are portrayed, the visual arrangements, musical and other sound accompaniment, and the broad topics that are discussed in the films. This general style assessment is done according to the methods of analysis suggested by Pollak (2008, pp. 80–81). In the first dimension, I also examine the contents and identify the broad topics and specific subtopics in the narratives of the main characters. I adhere to Krzyżanowski (2008), who is drawing on van Dijk (1984) and delimits discourse topics as follows: The discourse topics are perceived here from the point of view of text semantics as “expressed by several sentences of discourse […] by larger segments of the SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 13 discourse or by the discourse as a whole” (van Dijk, 1984, p. 56). In this vein, the discourse topics are seen as “the most ‘important’ or ‘summarizing’ idea that underlies the meanings of a sequence of sentences […] a ‘gist’ or an ‘upshot’ for such an episode […] it is what such a passage is about” (ibid.; original emphasis). I identified five specific topics in the narratives of the main characters of the two chosen films, with reference to the research questions of the present study: identity, tradition, life in Vietnam, education, and law (the topics and specific sub-topics are listed in Table 1). The first three topics were interconnected, as all narratives dealing with these topics were related to the discursive construction of the collective linguistic identities of the migrant groups. The other two topics concern education and law in the host states. The first topic comprehends all narratives related to the question of belonging to a national minority. Under this topic, I subsumed all the narrations where the characters touched upon their feelings regarding belonging to a national minority or an immigrant community, or where they discussed the possibility of their belonging to the majority nation in the host state (sub-topic a). Secondly, I considered the parts of the film under this topic, where the characters mentioned their perception of how the communities are received by the majority society (sub-topic b). The second topic includes narratives concerning family traditions. The characters spoke of their families’ national traditions, originating from their motherland, the possible cultural differences between the generations of the immigrant communities, and the perception of these differences by the members of both generations (subtopic a). Additionally, this topic includes narratives dealing with the impact of emigration on these family traditions (sub-topic b). Under the third topic, I subsume the narratives regarding the characters’ views on the life in the country of origin (Vietnam). These are the moments of the films where the people depicted compare their lives in Vietnam with their life in Czechia or Poland (sub-topic a) and where they contemplate on the possibilities of return to Vietnam (sub-topic b). Within the topic of language education, I filed the narrations where the characters talked about education of the minority members in general (sub-topic a) and about the learning and teaching of the immigrant community languages or the majority languages in the host states (sub-topic b). The topic of law combines the depiction of national law of the host states in the films (sub-topic a) and the possible lack of knowledge of such law and subsequent problems (sub-topic b). Topic 1 Identity Sub-topic a Belonging to a national minority, immigrant community, feeling like a Vietnamese or like a member of the majority nation (Czech or Polish) Sub-topic b The perception of the Vietnamese by the majority, the perception of the majority by the Vietnamese 14 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 Topic 2 Traditions Sub-topic a The differences between the younger generation and the older generation of Vietnamese immigrants and the perception of these differences by the members of the two generations Sub-topic b Traditions and their maintenance in a family, the impact of emigration on the traditions within the family Topic 3 Life in Vietnam Sub-topic a The comparison of the life in Vietnam with the life in Czechia or Poland Sub-topic b Future plans and the eventual plans for the return to Vietnam Topic 4 Education Sub-topic a Education in general Sub-topic b Majority and minority language knowledge by the majority and the minority members Topic 5 Law Sub-topic a Presentation of law Sub-topic b Lack of knowledge of law and the subsequent problems table 1: Topics and sub-topics of the main characters’ narratives. For the first topic (identity), I also carried out the second and third phases of analysis, i.e. the discursive strategies and the linguistic means by which they are realized (Wodak — Reisigl, 2003, p. 385). In my understanding of “discursive strategy” I adhere to the definition set forth by Wodak and Reisigl (2003, p. 386): “[A] more or less accurate and more or less intentional plan of practices (including discursive practices) adopted to achieve acertain social, political, psychological, or linguistic aim.” Discursive strategies are therein further defined as “systematic ways of using language” (ibid.). I focus on the referential and predicational strategies used by the major characters in their narratives in the two selected films. Wodak and Reisigl (2003) name five groups of discursive strategies. Each type of strategy is linked to a question to which it responds. In this article, I answer Wodak and Reisigl’s questions: “How are persons named and referred to linguistically?” (ibid., p. 385), i.e. which referential strategies are employed by the characters, and: “Which traits, characteristics, qualities and features are attributed to them?” (ibid.), i.e. the respective predicational strategies. Wodak (2009, pp. 319–320) defines referential strategies as those by which social actors are constructed and represented, for example, through the creation of in-groups and out-groups. This is done through a number of categorization devices, including metaphors and metonymies, and synecdoches in the form of a part standing for the whole (pars pro toto) or a whole standing for the part (totum pro parte). Predicational strategies are defined by Wodak and Reisigl (2003, p. 386) as those which “aim at labeling social actors either positively or negatively, deprecatorily or appreciatively”. They add (ibid.) that “[s]ome of the referential strategies can SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 15 be considered to be specific forms of predicational strategies, because the pure referential identification very often already involves a denotatively or connotatively depreciatory or appreciative labelling of the social actors”. Through the identification of the referential and predicational strategies used by the characters, I am looking at the self-identification of the film characters representing the Vietnamese immigrant communities, especially, at how they express their “attachments” and “belonging” to the host countries, their countries of origin, and the respective nations (Krzyżanowski — Wodak, 2008, p. 113). I adopt the system of referential strategies as it is set forth by Reisigl and Wodak (2001, pp. 47–54), with some minor modifications. Firstly, I identify the instances of collectivization, i.e. “the reference to social actors as group entities, but without quantifying them” (ibid., p. 53). This strategy is realized by the use of deictic pronouns (“us”, “we”, “them”, and “they”) or by the use of collective nouns (“the Vietnamese”, “Poles”, “Czechs”). The second referential strategy which I identify is spatialization, i.e. “using toponyms as metonymies” (ibid., p. 48) or “personifications” (ibid.). These types of toponyms (metonymies and personifications) include “Warsaw”, “Poland”, “Czech Republic”, “Czechia” or “Bohemia”, as well as the deictic words “here” and “there”. In some instances, I also identified spatialization in the form of an “anthroponym referring to a person in terms of living in a place” (ibid., p. 48) (e.g. “Europeans”). The referential strategy of actionalization was specifically realized as profes siona lization and the social actors were labelled through a certain profession, which is stereotypically considered as a characteristic for the group, e.g. “stall-owners”, which was at the same time a realization of economization. Another referential strategy, culturalization, was realized as ethnification (using the ethnonyms “the Vietnamese”, “Czechs”, “Poles”) or as linguification (using the linguonym “ting tang tong”). Relationalization was realized by the relationym “Vietnamese friends”. Somatization, i.e. the identification of the social actors by their appearance and other physical characteristics is realized by the use of the metaphorical somatonym “banana”. 2.3 SELECTION OF FILMS, TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION With reference to the research question, I chose the following two films for detailed analysis: a documentary about the Vietnamese community in Czechia called Banana Children (directed by Martin Ryšavý, 2009) and one about the Vietnamese in Poland, Warsawers (directed by Anna Gajewska, 2005). I selected these two particular documentaries, because they are comparable in length and in the topics that they cover: the linguistic identities of the Vietnamese immigrant communities and their reflection on the relevant law and its practical application. I transcribed the two films according to the guidelines set forth by Iedema (2001, p. 196). I divided each film into a series of subsequent steps in the argument. For each step, I identified the main actor, who is narrating their story or giving the audience their opinions. I took note of the main characters’ actions and I transcribed their monologues and dialogues and translated them into English. I translated the texts in 16 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 Banana Children from Czech and Warsawers from Polish. I used the English subtitles officially provided for Warsawers, but translated the spoken texts myself, because the subtitles were (for obvious practical reasons) not detailed enough. I also took note of additional visual or sound content, apart from the main characters’ narrations. Unless the characters’ names were clearly stated, I labelled them according to their gender and origin (Vietnamese or Czech origin in Banana Children and Vietnamese or Polish origin in Warsawers). The characters in Warsawers are labelled with an additional “W”, to make them distinguishable from the characters of Banana Children. For example, CM1 is a male of Czech origin appearing in Banana Children, CF1 is afemale of Czech origin appearing in the same film, VM1W is a male of Vietnamese origin appearing in Warsawers. 3. DETAILED ANALYSIS OF TWO FILMS 3.1 ASSESSMENT OF OVERALL STYLE In the first step of the three-dimensional analysis in the DHA, I assessed the films in terms of their overall style. First of all, the titles of the two films deserve attention. The authors of Banana Children originally claimed that they were aware of the “controversial” nature of the title and of the fact that such a title was “hardly acceptable for many people”. They stated that this was only the “working title”, which was to be changed, once the film was finished (Martínková, 2008). In the end, Banana Children became the official title of the film. The title is based on a metaphor, equating the second generation Vietnamese people, who were born and grew up in Czechia, with bananas. The similarity with the tropical fruit is seen in the fact that bananas are yellow from the outside and white on the inside. Analogically, the second-generation immigrants in Czechia can be seen as Asian from the outside, but Czech from the inside. The term “yellow” (“žlutí”) is a slightly obsolete term in Czech for people of East-Asian origin, with reference to their ethnicity and appearance. Nowadays, amore common term for this ethnic group is “Asians” (“Asiaté”). According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980, p. 115) metaphors are a part of our everyday life and play very important roles in how “we conceptualize our experience”. Adopting a certain metaphor in our speech has consequences on how we perceive the reality, and thus including such a metaphor in the title of the film is certainly not without consequences. The authors did not explicitly state the reason why they originally considered the title to be “controversial” and “hardly acceptable”. One possible explanation is that they found it inappropriate to refer so strongly to the differences in ethnicity. They might have found it inappropriate to see the main difference between the two cultures (Vietnamese and Czech) in the appearances and ethnic descent of their members. In any case, the term “banana” for a second-generation Vietnamese immigrants in the Czech society became widely used by both some Czechs and some Vietnamese (see for example Duong Nguyen Thi Thuy, 2008). In the film itself, the expression “banana children” is discussed twice. SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 17 The Polish film Warsawers has an equally noteworthy title. The title makes one think that the authors wanted to suggest that the Vietnamese are regular inhabitants of Warsaw, as well as anybody else of any other nationality. The authors might have wanted to suggest that the other Warsawers should not think of their Vietnamese neighbours as aliens or as being less of a part of Warsaw than the Poles residing therein. By not including any other word in the title, which would hint that these Warsawers are actually of Vietnamese origin, the stress is put on the residence in Warsaw and shifts the focus from what is usually seen as the main feature of this group. Both Banana Children and Warsawers intend to give a comprehensive account of the current life of the Vietnamese community in the two respective host countries. In the production of both, the NGOs whose purpose is to help migrants played an important role. Banana Children was filmed with the involvement the organization Club Hanoi, whose members are both Vietnamese people and Czechs interested in Vietnam (and many of them studying the Vietnamese culture and philology at Czech universities), some professionally employed by the organization and some volunteers. Warsawers was filmed by Foundation Artery, whose structure and personnel is similar to Club Hanoi, but which focuses not only on helping the Vietnamese migrants but on migration in general. Both films were thus filmed by, or in cooperation with, organizations which favour the Vietnamese communities and aim at improving the position of the communities in their host countries. Banana Children is more focused on the younger generation of the Vietnamese community than its Polish counterpart. Both films provide images of the Vietnamese markets in the host countries and the cultural sites which are often situated close to the large markets and where Vietnamese stall-owners meet for their cultural practices. These include Buddhist temples, classrooms for teaching the Vietnamese language, classrooms for learning the Czech language, Vietnamese restaurants and bistros and other services related to Vietnamese culture and aimed at Vietnamese consumers. Both films also provide comparison with the life in Vietnam. In Warsawers, the comparison is only carried out through the spoken account given by the portrayed individuals, while in Banana Children, the film-makers have included visual and sound documentation of the streets, bistros and markets in Vietnam and the celebrations of the Vietnamese New Year in Vietnam. Warsawers consists of several portraits of Vietnamese individuals living in Warsaw, each one follows roughly the same structure. The main character is speaking in amonologue and the background or the additional visual content is obviously taken from their close surroundings and closely related to the main character’s speech. Banana Children is less systematic in the arrangement of scenes. For some, the visual content is still continuing, while the spoken content is already conveyed by a character belonging to the following scene and vice versa. Additionally, the same characters in Banana Children appear in multiple scenes, and several scenes are split into shorter parts and shown part by part in the film, with other scenes inserted between them. Neither film officially presents the names, jobs, or positions of the characters. In Banana Children, two Vietnamese female characters tell their names to the viewers, but for one of them (VF1), this only happens in the second half of the film, when she is 18 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 already appearing for the fourth time. None of the Czech characters in Banana Children is presented with a name. This is surprising for some of them (CM1 and CM2), who are social scientists and are speaking from a specific position (they mention their own research projects regarding the Vietnamese community in Czechia and the culture in Vietnam). In Warsawers, most monologues of the main characters follow a similar structure to one another and at the beginning of their speech, the characters tell the viewer their Vietnamese name and its meaning in Polish. However, there are exceptions in Warsawers and some of them speak without introducing themselves (for example aPolish Catholic priest or a journalist, VM1W, speaking about the problems of a particular journal he is in charge of, without specifically mentioning the name of the journal). The choice of characters appearing in the two films is noteworthy. The characters are not explicitly filmed in their role or position in either of the films. In Warsawers, some of the characters are depicted when performing their typical activity or job (such as the man performing a traditional Asian martial art) and some of them mention their occupation in their speech (such as the student of medicine). In Banana Children, the positions are even less obvious. The only information that the viewer is given about the characters is their gender, ethnic origin, and the approximate age. The only characters whose position is obvious are the teachers at elementary schools, and pupils who are portrayed while at school. For some of the characters in Banana Children, the viewer can only roughly guess their positions and jobs based on what they say (such as the Czech experts on Vietnamese culture or the employees of a Vietnamese bistro), but most characters remain mysterious. Due to the unrevealed information, the characters can only be perceived as the representatives of the obvious categories: males, females, young people, older generation, and being of Vietnamese or Czech origin. From the limited information the viewer is given from the speeches, an interesting impression is created: there are more Vietnamese females than males in Banana Children (8 females and 3 males) and the two Czech experts on Vietnamese culture, whose names are not revealed, are males. Therefore, the viewer gets the impression that the Vietnamese immigrants are mostly unlearned women, while the social scientists interested in them are men. Such an impression was probably not desired by the authors, but as a result, it is rather strange, especially in combination with the flirtatious tone and informal expressions that CM1 uses when talking to the Vietnamese female teenagers. 3.2 TOPICS IN THE MAIN CHARACTERS’ NARRATIONS 3.2.1 TOPIC 1: IDENTITY IN BANANA CHILDREN The topic of identity construction is central to both films. The characters mention the question of their own identity and of belonging to a certain national group on numerous occasions. They mostly do not touch upon the topic of the distinction between the traditional minorities and immigrants. The historical dimension of the residence of the Vietnamese communities in the two host countries is limited to the account of their arrival from Vietnam, rather than comparing their history to other minorities in the host states and rather than contemplating on whose residence in the SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 19 host territory is traditional and who can be considered an autochthonous minority. Their pondering on identity is mostly related to the distinction between their original identity (Vietnamese) and their possibly later acquired identity (Czech or Polish). This topic is closely related to the topic of the immigrants’ relation to the mainstream majority. In both films, the Vietnamese characters often mention the opinions they hold about the Czech or Polish majority and the opinions they think that the majority members have about the Vietnamese. Similarly, the Czech and Polish representatives in the two films often speak about what they think about the Vietnamese culture and the Vietnamese immigrant society. The relevant parts of the film are transcribed in Table 2.1 Banana Children first mentions the question of identity in step 3. Two young Vietnamese men are sitting in a Vietnamese bistro and eating traditional Vietnamese food, using chop sticks. From the wider context of the film as well as from the external context, the viewer can assume that this bistro is situated at one of the large Vietnamese markets, most probably at Sapa in Prague. Their speech and the development of the discussion provide an account of a vigorous mixture of the Czech and the Vietnamese culture. The whole discussion is centred on the phrase “banana children” (see Table 2 above). The first man (VM1) obviously knows the meaning of the phrase and is trying to explain it to his friend (VM2). VM2 does not at first appreciate the depth of VM1’s intention and replies very superficially, which creates an amusing situation. At the moment, when VM2 realizes that his friend has some deeper message to share, he turns to the camera conspiratorially and says: “Yes, bananas, so he is after race, probably.” Then, speaking again to VM1 he says: “That it is yellow, or what, you ox, banana-like.” The phrase “you ox” (“ty vole” in Czech) is often used by Czech young male speakers who are not very educated, or who do not in particular want to sound educated and who are addressing other males. Its function in a phrase is to gain some time to think and to fill gaps, similarly to “well” in English. VM1 uses several adjectives to describe the appearance of the Vietnamese immigrants (or the yellow banana skin) and the how they can be perceived from the outside: “from outside we look normal, simply yellow, like us, simply like the Vietnamese.” For the Czechs that are inside, he only uses two adjectives: “Czechs” and “Europeans”. Obviously, he is struggling to find the correct expression for the Vietnamese appearance, which is indicated by hesitations and the repeated insertion of the word “like”. In spite of the fact that he is struggling to find the right word, he considers the Vietnamese to be “normal” and he labels them as “us”, as opposed to the Czechs. The whole scene’s arrangement emphasizes the contrast between the Vietnamese appearance of the two men and their Czech behaviour. Their Vietnamese appearance is supported by the surroundings of the Vietnamese bistro, the Vietnamese noodlefood they are eating and their use of chop-sticks. In addition, while they both speak perfect Czech without any mistakes, they both have a slight foreign accent. Their frequent use of the expression “you ox” or simply “ox” further emphasizes the cultural mix. The phrase is slightly vulgar, but not excessively so. It is most typically used 1 The individual steps of the films are ordered in Tables 2 and 3 according to the analysis in each section, rather than according to the order in which they appear in the films. 26 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 Step 6 11:45 Polish priest 1b A Polish catholic priest (wearing a shirt with a typical priest’s collar) is talking about his relation to the Vietnamese community. V: The viewer can assume that he is sitting in his office. Behind him, on the wall, traditional Vietnamese paintings and decorations are visible. Polish priest: My adventure, so to say, with the Vietnamese people, began after my return from Papua New Guinea, where I had worked for over ten years as a missionary. So I have a personal experience of what it means to be an alien. I also know what it means to experience hospitality and kindness. I felt what John Paul II had said— that the path of the church is a human person. I don’t ask anybody about their denomination. I am interested in everybody as a person, a Vietnamese person. Our actions are determined by us being ethnically locked for over fifty years. It is the legacy of Stalin, who for the first time in the Polish history closed Poland into an ethnic prison. So we learnt to think that Poland was only for the Poles and we forgot that for a thousand of years, Poland was a republic of many nations. We should get used to the fact that a Pole who is black can be an equally good Pole as if he was white. Motherland is also the question of choice, not only birth. Step 10 19:29 VM2W 1b VM2 is commenting on football match preparations. V: Football match preparations S: Polish brass music VM2W: In a moment, a match will take place between the Vietnamese and the policemen from the Warsaw police Headquarters. Step 11 20:24 VM2W 1b VM2W is commenting on a football match. V: Football match S: Traditional Asian music VM2W: I see that your people are strong and young and that we will lose. But we play for fun. Step 15 24:56 PF1 1b Making Vietnamese food in the kitchen in the Vietnamese restaurant PF1: We are now in one of the restaurants run by me and my husband. Most of our customers are Poles. Before I met my husband, I had not met any other Vietnamese people. When my husband travelled for his scholarship to Poland, generally abroad, his parents gave him a piece of gold, in case he would need it. We made our wedding rings out of that. And there is still some left for the next ones. PF1: The story of my passport is very complicated. At the beginning of this year, my passport expired, after the ten years of the document. I wanted to change it for a new one. They told me that, because of my surname, the computer SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 27 system is not adjusted to things like this and that I have to relinquish the diacritics in my surname, which is two letters long, not to mention how they pronounced it. The system in a place where passports for Poles all over the world are issued, does not provide for such a complicated surname. I am waiting for this issue to be resolved. Maybe, one day, I will have a passport. Step 16 26:38 Huong 1b Huong is standing in front a hospital and talking about her personal story. V: Hospital corridors and patients […] Huong: I chose medicine in order to help people. I want my work to have value. The patients are very nice and treat me like a… student of medicine. […] Huong: Well, Vietnamese boys are not goodlooking. Girls are very pretty, but boys… not really. But Polish boys are alright. Step 19 34:06 PF2 1b An elderly Polish woman (PF2) is sitting in her flat in Warsaw with three Vietnamese children and talking about how she befriended her neighbouring Vietnamese family. V: Flat with photographs of Vietnamese children on the walls PF2: I am a Warsawer. I was born here and I am 82. It is true. I made friends with this family. At the beginning, my neighbour came and introduced himself: “I am Tony”. So we all call him Tony. PF2: This is Jakub. I love him. He was born here and I was cradling him all the time. Karolinka is in the third grade and she is a very gifted girl. We are good friends, good neighbours. I wouldn’t really have imagined it would be like this. I made friends with the children first. Actually, I thought both Karolina and Jakub Polish, that is how it all began. They come to me and cry: “Grannie”, and grannie comes. PF2: I got to like them so much that they are like my family. […] table 3: Identity (topics 1a and 1b) in Warsawers. One of the characters in Warsawers, Tran Qouc Anh, as part of the preparedness of his answers, links the question of his identity to citizenship. He says (in step 18) that he considers himself Vietnamese, because he has Vietnamese citizenship. This makes his answer more grounded in facts and more thoroughly reasoned than those in Banana Children. Other characters make more emotional and less rational arguments about their own identities: Van Anh (Ania) says (in step 13) that she feels “like at home” in Poland and Linh, on the other hand, notes that “there is no place like the motherland” (in step 24), by which she means Vietnam. Thu Thuy in step 25 says metaphorically, that Warsaw “has planted roots” in her. A few of the characters are answering the questions on their identity with humour. I interpret this as a way to get rid of some unease connected with such inquiries. In step 3, Trinh Nhoai Nam narrates a short amusing story of him meeting an elderly lady in a Polish village many years ago. The lady had obviously been 28 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 shocked by meeting an Asian person. Trinh Nhoai Nam laughs about the situation, but at the same time envisages that the ethnic difference of his family might cause some difficulties for his children later on: At the moment, we don’t know what kind of problems Mariusz and Jarek might have at school. Because at the moment, they are attending a kindergarten and there is no such problem. Children in the pre-school age are innocent. They just accept that this is Mariusz and they do not perceive him as yellow or black. The problem starts when he enters school. But that is all ahead of us (Warsawers, step 3). Le Thanh Binh in step 4 speaks about the scandalous gossip that has been spread in Warsaw about the Vietnamese community: the mainstream public have heard that the Vietnamese cook pigeon and dog meat. Le Thanh Binh is changing the whole uneasy situation by turning the story into a humorous one, partly (and cynically) ridiculing the naivety of the Polish mainstream public: “I have heard about the scandal with pigeons. But, to be honest, it would not pay off for the Vietnamese to buy pigeon meat and put it in spring rolls. The same with dogs. In Vietnam, dog meat is more expensive than beef. So it is ridiculous. Maybe they eat dogs, but they only make the dogs for themselves to eat.” A Vietnamese man (VM2W) in step 10 comments on a football match between Poles and the Vietnamese, saying that the Poles are “strong and young and that [the Vietnamese] will lose”. He adds: “But we play for fun.” This way, the man emphasizes that the symbolic meaning of the match should not be exaggerated and that the Vietnamese are ready to accept their own defeat with humour. Emotional ties of the Vietnamese characters towards the Vietnamese nation range from loyalty to a complete denial of any relation. Linh says, that she knows both the Polish and the Vietnamese language very well and that this has allowed her to gain a good job in Poland. Nevertheless, she lists several reasons why she still considers herself to be Vietnamese: The news from Vietnam are important for me, because I continue to be Vietnamese. Even though I speak Polish very well, I am not a Pole. Being here, you need to know who you really are. We, the second generation, we assimilate better with the Poles, but what is inside, that must stay. I don’t look like a Pole, so I can’t say that I am one. Sometimes, I even feel Polish, but really, I am Vietnamese. You have to retain this, retain this knowledge in yourself (Warsawers, step 24). On the other hand, Tran Qouc Anh says that he “adopted the European culture”. He accentuates that he has no Vietnamese friends: “My contact with Warsaw Vietnamese people usually means making business. My mentality is too different from them. How should I say it […] They like people who are similar to them and I am not. I don’t think I have any Vietnamese friends. No, I am sure I don’t” (step 18). The question of the self-perception of the Vietnamese is closely connected to their perception by the Polish majority and also to the question of how the Vietnamese think that the Poles see them and how the Vietnamese see the Poles. Van Anh (Ania) views her own identity from the point of view of others, rather than from hers, as if SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 29 she does not feel qualified enough to judge her own identity: “people say that I am very polonized” (step 13). The opinions of Poles on the Vietnamese are best seen in one of the scenes depicting the Polish priest. The priest presents a thought-through opinion on how Poles perceive the Vietnamese and why the Vietnamese might have difficulties integrating. He points to the similarities in the histories of Poland and Vietnam, especially the totalitarian past. He presents an unconventional view, because he abstains from the differences between the cultures. His attitude is novel and contrary to the stereotypical thinking, because he emphasizes the disadvantage for the Poles and possible ethnic segregation, rather than the possible disadvantages for the Vietnamese community: Our actions are determined by us being ethnically locked for over fifty years. It is the legacy of Stalin, who for the first time in the Polish history closed Poland into an ethnic prison. So we learnt to think that Poland is only for the Poles and we forgot that for a thousand of years, Poland was a republic of many nations. We should get used to the fact that a Pole who is black can be an equally good Pole as if he was white. Motherland is also the question of choice, not only birth (Warsawers, step 6). Le Thanh Binh mentions her opinion on Poles. She starts on a positive note, saying that Poles “are much more spontaneous and they know how to joke”. However, she immediately turns her positive evaluation into a more negative one, when she continues: “And they know how to drink. I do not like alcohol very much.” And in the end concludes strongly negatively about Poles as compared to the Vietnamese: “I am for example very surprised by their attitude towards each other. For example, my Polish colleague never greets his neighbours. He also does not put rubbish into their bin, because that would cause some sort of a problem. We don’t have such problems, people are always helpful” (step 4). On the topic of how she thinks that the Vietnamese are seen by Poles, Le Thanh Binh says proudly that the Vietnamese appear as a “quiet nation” (step 4), but that the reality is actually different. Other characters respond with even more pride about the Vietnamese nation. Linh says that the Vietnamese in Poland work in “trade, cuisine, and textiles”, because they “are the best in it” (step 24). Others connect their expression of pride with the integration into the Polish society. Linh says: “We, the second generation, we assimilate better with the Poles […].” Similarly, Trinh Nhoai Nam says: “I read about the Vietnamese immigrants in America. They become American in the third generation. But in Poland, already in the second generation they are already Poles” (step 3). 3.3 DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINGUISTIC REALIZATIONS IN THE NARRATIVES ON LINGUISTIC IDENTITIES 3.3.1 DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES IN BANANA CHILDREN The referential and predicational strategies employed in the discussion of the topic of identity by the characters in Banana Children, are listed, together with their linguistic realizations, in Table 4. The referential strategy of collectivization 30 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 through the use of the linguistic means of deictics is used elaborately in step 3. The explanation of the expression “banana children” is facilitated by the use of the terms “us”, and “we”, with reference to the Vietnamese. The group of people referred to as “we”, “us”, and “the Vietnamese” is further predicated by stating that they are “normal” and “simply yellow”. The reference to “us” as “normal”, thus indicating that the other group, i.e. mainstream Czechs, is not normal, implies some superiority of the immigrant group. On the other hand, the reference to this group as “simply yellow” includes the adoption of the controversial predicate with racist overtones, an expression usually used by others to refer pejoratively to people of East-Asian origin. The mainstream group, to which the speakers claim not to belong, is referred to as “Czechs”, without any predication. The designation of the minority and majority groups by the ethnonyms “the Vietnamese” and “Czechs” is also an example of the referential strategy of culturalization (ethnification). This conversation further employs the referential strategy of spatialization in the form of an antroponym, referring to people as living in a place: the Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic are referred to as from the inside being “simply like Europeans”. This discussion additionally contains a complex use of the referential strategy of somatization. The second generation of the Vietnamese in Czechia are metaphorically referred to as “bananas” and thus the somatization is realized by employing the specific body meronyms referring to their skin and to the inside. This instance of somatization contains the controversial denotation of the people of European origin as “white” and the people of East-Asian origin as “yellow”. Furthermore, when the Vietnamese community members are compared to bananas, it is hinted that they are of tropical, or even “exotic” origin, as are bananas in Czech culture. VF4 in step 12 uses the referential strategy of spatialization, when she mentions that “the Czech Republic” is a place where it is “impossible” to have a barrister’s office. The reference to the name of the state is used metonymically, as the place name refers to the state institutions as well as the people living in the place, who allegedly make it impossible for VF4 to open her barrister’s office. The question of jobs and prestige is also mentioned in step 24, where VF7 speaks about the low-qualified job of stall-owners, often held by the Vietnamese in Czechia, and claims that the Vietnamese people there are often referred to by this professionym by the Czech majority (the referential strategy of actionalization or culturalization realized in the form of professionalization). VF7 also complains that other pupils at the elementary school in Czechia which she visited called her by the linguonym “ting tang tong”, and thus she implies that they were employing the referential strategy of culturalization (linguification) and ridiculing the Vietnamese language. Referential strategy Linguistic means Examples Step Predicational strategy Collectivization Deictics We, us (3) 3Normal, simply yellow Collectives The Vietnamese 3 Czechs 3 SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 31 Spatialization Toponyms the Czech Republic 12 It is impossible to have a barrister’s office in the Czech Republic. Antroponyms referring to a person as living in a place Europeans 3 [The secondgeneration Vietnamese behave] Simply like Europeans. Actionalization Professionalization Professionyms Stall-owners 24 Somatization Somatonyms Banana 3 Yellow, white Culturalization Ethnification Ethnonym The Vietnamese, Czechs 3 Linguification Linguonym Ting tang tong 24 Economization Stall-owners 12 table 4: Referential and predicational strategies employed in topic 1 in Banana Children. 3.3.2 DISCURSIVE STRATEGIES IN WARSAWERS The discursive strategies herein analysed are listed in Table 5 below. The characters in Warsawers use the deictic pronouns “we”, “they” and “them” on numerous occasions. These are typically used by the Vietnamese characters to refer to themselves as “we” and to the Polish majority as “they”. In such instances, the reference “we” is connected to positive predications: the Vietnamese are presented as “always helpful” (step 4), “the best” in “trade, cuisine, textile” (step 24), etc. In one of the narratives, the pronouns “them” and “they” are used to denote the Vietnamese community, and the Vietnamese community is ascribed some negative qualities by the Vietnamese speaker, who distances himself from the community: “They like people who are similar to them […]” (step 18). The collectives “Poles” and “the Vietnamese” are also used as part of the referential strategy of collectivization. Poles are attributed positive qualities by the Vietnamese: they know how to “joke” and are “much more spontaneous”, but also negative qualities related to these — they know how to “drink” (step 4). Another positive feature attributed to Poles by the Vietnamese, is that “Polish boys are alright”, while “Vietnamese boys are not good-looking” (step 16). The positive feature of belonging among the Poles is also implied when one of the characters says that the Vietnamese in Poland integrate much faster than in the United States and that “in the second generation, they are already Poles” (step 3). Within the referential strategy of spatialization, the characters extensively use the toponyms: “Poland”, “Vietnam” and “Warsaw”, often as metonymies standing for the people inhabiting them: “I got to like Warsaw and Poland” (step 13), “The news from Vietnam are very important for me” (step 24). One of the characters also employs the antroponym referring to the people living in Warsaw: “Warsaw Vietnamese people”. In spite of the fact that this speaker is of Vietnamese origin and says that he has 32 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 Referential strategy Linguistic means Examples Step Predicational strategy Collectivization Collectives Deictics They, them 18 They like the people who are similar to them […] We 4We don’t have such problems, people are always helpful. We 24 We work in trade, cuisine, textile, because we are the best in it. We 4We are such a quiet nation. Poles 3[…] in the second generation, they are already Poles. Poles 4They are much more spontaneous, […] know how to joke, […] drink […]. Vietnamese boys 16 Vietnamese boys are not goodlooking. Polish boys 16 Polish boys are alright. Spatialization Toponyms Warsaw, Poland 13 I got to like Warsaw and Poland. Home 13 I feel like at home here. Vietnam 18 I come from Vietnam. Vietnam 24 The news from Vietnam are very important for me. Warsaw 24 This city planted roots in me. I feel part of it. Poland 6We learnt to think that Poland is only for the Poles. Motherland 6Motherland is also the question of choice, not only birth. Antroponyms referring to persons as living in a place Warsaw Vietnamese people 18 My contact with Warsaw Vietnamese people usually means making business. Culturalization Ethnification Ethnonym A Pole 13 I would like to have a family […] with a Pole. A Pole 24 Even though I speak Polish very well, I am not a Pole. A Vietnamese 3Currently, a Vietnamese in the street makes nobody surprised. A Pole 6[…] a Pole who is black can be an equally good Pole as if he was white. Relationalization Relationyms Vietnamese friends 18 I don’t think I have any Vietnamese friends. table 5: Referential and predicational strategies in topic 1 in Warsawers. SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 33 Vietnamese citizenship, he does not identify with these people: “My contact with Warsaw Vietnamese people usually means making business” (step 18). The ethnonym “a Pole” is used as part of the culturalization (ethnification) referential strategy and it is often predicated by some positive features by the Vietnamese characters. For example, one of the speakers in the film says that she would like to have a family with a Pole (step 13). A Polish character in the film says that the fact that somebody is “a Pole” is not determined by appearance: “[…] a Pole who is black can be equally a good Pole as if he was white” (step 6). Additionally, this statement implies that the Vietnamese community members desire to be considered as Poles and that being “a Pole” is a positive quality. The integration of the Vietnamese community in the Polish society is further portrayed as a positive thing when one of the characters says that while the situation was different in previous years, nowadays “a Vietnamese in the street makes nobody surprised” (step 3). Finally, the Vietnamese are in one instance identified in a relation, though negatively. The referential strategy of relationalization is employed when one of the Vietnamese characters in the film claims not to have any Vietnamese friends (step 18). 3.4 OTHER TOPICS 3.4.1 TOPIC 2: TRADITIONS The topic of family traditions is closely related to the topic of identity. This topic is brought up in the discussion of arranged marriages in Banana Children, in the talk between two young men, VM1 and VM2. Obviously, the custom of marriages has changed dramatically from what it was for the generation of their parents. In their short exchange on the topic, VM2 asks his friend: “Where did your Dad meet your Mum?” VM1 makes it clear that he finds the question pointless, as it is obvious what the custom was for their parents: “My Mum? Of course, at home, where else, ox? It is not like now, that you go out and meet somebody. The parents had to have more input. Not like now, that you can simply go where you like, when you like and with whom you like.” VM2, ends the short discussion similarly to how he did in step 3, when they discussed the origin of the expression “banana children”: “Okay, okay, okay, you ox.” The repetitive use of “okay” (“dobrý” in original), is often used in informal Czech and typically expresses that the speaker is tired of somebody’s explanation and that the explanation is unnecessarily long. This linguistic feature, together with the use of “you ox” by both VM1 and VM2, makes their discussion sound very Czech and very natural. The difference in meeting one’s prospective spouse might have been caused simply by generational change, but it might also have been caused by their families’ immigration to the Czech Republic. The conviction that migration is the cause for change is strengthened by the fact that this conversation takes place when VM1 and VM2 are visiting Vietnam, where they view themselves as foreigners. Their feeling of being foreign in Vietnam is made obvious by their previous conversation in this scene and in the preceding scenes filmed in Vietnam. They touch upon the same issue once again later on and VM2 says that his parents “can’t even do that” (choose a wife for him). In this expression, the viewer can feel a hint of saying that the parents “can’t 34 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 dare to do that”, which suggests the shift of power relations in a family from what was common for the previous generation. A second issue where the differences between generations become evident is the question of outspokenness. A young woman (VF5) speaks about an article which she has published in a major Czech newspaper. She says that the older Vietnamese were shocked by what she had written, and even by the fact that she had simply written anything at all for a newspaper. According to VF5, the older generation Vietnamese immigrants concluded that “[her] parents must have brought [her] up wrongly” and that she “discredited the Vietnamese community”. She is distancing herself from the Vietnamese community and she is explaining the entire problem from a European perspective. She speaks fluent Czech with only a slight foreign accent. While she speaks continuously, the view of her face is alternated with snapshots of busy traffic in Vietnam, which are accompanied by corresponding traffic noise. Such a mixture of images of the Czech and the Vietnamese culture enhances the viewers’ impression that these are two different worlds and that the younger generation immigrants have to change their culture significantly if they want to integrate in the Czech mainstream. The difference between generations, strengthened by immigration to Europe is also depicted in the film, by mentioning the traditional roles of men and women in a family. VM1 and VM2 state that the man is the “head of the family” in Vietnam. He is the one to decide everything for the rest of the family and he does not need to discuss anything with his wife or children. They mention that this is the rule even for deciding essential things, such as migration. They stress that this is different from the way Czech families work. Similarly, VF5 says that “in the family the greatest say belongs to the Dad” and that “adults are always right” while the “children have to obey”. Another girl in further elaborates on this theme, saying that “the parents […] never pay attention to how the child behaves and what the child thinks” and concludes by saying: “I don’t want to say that they do not care, but for them it is not important.” Another difference in family life in the Czech Republic and Vietnam is depicted on portraying the aforementioned Czech “grannie” babysitting small Vietnamese children. This scene demonstrates the different attitudes towards children in two cultures. The grannie complains that the children are dressed too warmly and does not show any respect for the parents’ decision on this and for the possible cultural differences that might have caused the situation: “He has to get little shoes, not to get cold, if his Mummy saw this, she would get crazy. […] This little one came, he has this T-shirt, and an over-all under it, and a sweater and even a little jacket. And it is twenty-four degrees in the shade.” The film also illustrates how the older generation of Vietnamese immigrants have difficulties accepting how the younger generation adjusts to the host society. CM1 is interviewing VF6 using very informal language: he introduces his question informally, by saying “look”. His question concerns insider information about VF6’s parents and the informal mode of conversation creates an overall conspiratorial impression. VF6 reveals that her family still retains a lot of the traditional Vietnamese lifestyle. For example, they eat rice every day. She mentions that her parents do not SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 35 know Czech very well and they are not happy if the children speak Czech at home: “Well, among us, with my siblings, certainly Czech. But when parents are home, we must speak Vietnamese, otherwise, we would get beaten.” In discussing family traditions and generational differences, Warsawers pictures this topic more positively than Banana Children. Huong says in step that the traditional festivities are “very pleasant” and that her parents keep the traditions in the same way as if they lived in Vietnam: “I don’t think that if I lived in Vietnam, that it would be different.” The film associates the Vietnamese cultural traditions with the older generation. Huong says that her parents “cherish” the traditions, VF1 says that it is the older generation who meet in a temple to “pray and talk, and not only about Buddhism”. Van Anh (Ania) says that it is her parents who would like her to be a “typical Vietnamese and have long black hair”. She sees herself as less traditional and considers dying her hair to an unnatural colour or even having dreadlocks. The older generation Vietnamese are pictured as carrying both the good and bad (seen from the Polish perspective) habits connected to the Vietnamese culture. The young generation are featured as distancing themselves from both the Vietnamese culture and the older generation and as those who are westernized and who can look at the Vietnamese culture through a European lens. Dong Ha’s comment is one of the examples of this feature of the film: “I am irritated when somebody is late, and the older Vietnamese are notoriously late. They came to the concert two hours late.” Warsawers is more systematic than Banana Children in the sense that the characters all speak about a similar topic and they have obviously been asked similar questions. Buddhism is mentioned several times throughout the film. It is always connected with the traditions that the younger generation immigrants no longer value. VF1 says that only the “elderly people” meet in the Buddhist temple in Warsaw. Le Thanh Binh says: “Officially, I am a Buddhist.” She makes the gesture of quotation marks when she pronounces the word “Buddhist” and she continues later on with an admission: “Honestly, I am an atheist.” Warsawers discusses the possibility of marrying a Pole on numerous occasions, differently from Banana Children which mentions this possibility only once and very briefly. Consistently with the other mentions of traditions, the expectation of young Vietnamese people marrying only Vietnamese partners is seen as one of the expectations of the older generations and opposite to the younger generation which is more acculturated in Poland. Le Thanh Binh says that her parents “would not accept it” if she wanted to marry a Pole. Other protagonists express the same issue in different words throughout the film. The younger generation is depicted as polonized, however the traditional important role of the parents has obviously not changed. 3.4.2 TOPIC 3: LIFE IN VIETNAM Both films deal with the comparison of the life in Vietnam with the life in the host state (Czechia and Poland respectively). Banana Children explicitly mentions on several occasions the eventual possibility of the migrants returning to Vietnam. 42 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 4.3 REFLECTIONS OF THE FINDINGS Finally, I would like to reflect on the findings of my analysis and link the results of film analysis to the legal position of Vietnamese communities and their language in the host countries, as it was aforementioned in the introduction. Firstly, I would like to assess the position of the Vietnamese communities in the light of the process of transformation of Czechia and Poland from communist countries to full-fledged member states of the democratic Europe. Such transformation is reflected in some of the narratives of community members in the films and in the referential strategies employed by the film characters. The use of the term “Europeans”, for the Vietnamese community members denotes the perceived membership of the Czech and Polish mainstream societies in Europe and the desired identification of the Vietnamese community members with the mainstream. Similarly, the use of the term “home” in reference to the host country serves the same purpose. The existence of the Vietnamese communities in both countries originates from inter-governmental agreements during the communist era, when Vietnamese students and workers resided in Czechoslovakia and Poland on short-term contracts and under strict rules. These rules did not allow them to freely socialize with the mainstream public. In the identity narratives of minority representatives in the films, the unequal power relations are reflected when the Vietnamese characters use professionyms (for example “stall-owners”), linguonyms (“ting tang tong”) or somatonyms (“banana”) referring to the perceived inferior position of the Vietnamese communities. By employing these strategies, the film characters suggest that such position is derived from what it was during the communist era. The still ongoing process of transformation and the positive developments in law are also reflected in the films. In accordance with the positive developments in domestic legislatures, the Vietnamese characters in both Banana Children and Warsawers express the growing awareness of the communities and community members of their rights. Secondly, the results of the present study have to be linked to the problem of positive and negative rights and their connection with the problem of collective and individual rights. I would like to elaborate on this problem with respect to the specific situation of economic migrants. According to Wright (1998, p. 1) there are “[t]wo sets of tensions” faced by economic migrants. Firstly, they have to find balance between making “the most of the new economic possibilities” (ibid.) in the host country, and thus, fulfilling the purpose of why they moved in there on the one hand, and maintaining some contact with the country of origin and its culture, which they do not want to fully “relinquish” (ibid.) on the other hand. Secondly, the migrants sometimes face the conflicting “aims of the host society” (ibid.) as its members who want to take part in the “democratic and civic society” (ibid.) and at the same time to “make space for different ways of doing things” (ibid.). Wright further notes that these two sets of tensions are “most salient in the question of language” (ibid., pp. 1–2). Therefore, the immigrants have to seek “compromises and strategies inherent in achieving personal bilingualism and maintaining the languages of immigrant groups” (ibid., p. 2). SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 43 The clash between individual and collective rights, and between positive and negative rights, is reflected in the identity narratives of the Vietnamese characters in the two films. The references to “us” as “normal” in Banana Children and “always helpful” and “the best” in Warsawers, while using the terms “us” and “them” interchangeably to denote the minority and the majority, indicate the constant seeking for identity and balancing between the two poles of becoming full members of the host society and retaining the minority identity. Similarly, when discussing the topic of traditions in the films, the characters take both stances. Some characters even mention that the two stances are not always juxtaposed, such as Huong in Warsawers: “My parents cherish our traditions, which are in Vietnam, and I also accept them, and I don’t think that if I lived in Vietnam, that it would be different.” Finally, the tensions and conflicts are mentioned in the film narratives on the topic of language education. The Vietnamese characters in Banana Children mentioned that they are “trying to integrate” and that the Vietnamese “language is getting simpler”. Similarly, those in Warsawers typically said on the question of language education that it is important to know both languages to succeed economically. Thirdly, the position of immigrant communities under the relevant legal systems is linked to the problem of defining national minorities and the lack of alegally binding, universally accepted definition in international law or elsewhere. The non-existence of a clear legal procedure for defining national minorities and the rights they are entitled to, neither in international nor in the national laws of the two states in question, leads to the sometimes unsystematic, unfair and discriminatory treatment of various immigrant communities. This is further enhanced by the lack of clarity in the legal distinction between immigrants and autochthonous minorities. The referential strategies employed by the film characters of Banana Children and Warsawers in the discussion of self-perception of their identity, reveal that they sometimes apprehend themselves as having a non-prestigious position. These referential strategies include “ting tang tong”, ridiculing Vietnamese language, or referring to the Vietnamese community members as “stall-owners”, i.e. typically holding a low-status job. Additionally, the country of origin is sometimes referred to more positively than the host country (“motherland”) and so are the members of the immigrant community (“Vietnamese friends”). Additionally, the position of immigrant communities in the host societies and the rights which are available to them are closely connected to the possibilities of their acquisition of citizenship of the host state. Currently, there are large communities of Vietnamese immigrants in both Czechia and Poland, who do not hold the citizenships of the host states. This can be perceived as threat by the host states and as an obstacle in cultural integration by the community members. Skach (2005, p. 68) notes that “multiculturalism” is a challenge to the “toleration of difference in the modern world”. “Toleration is focused not on groups but on their individual participants, who are conceived stereotypically first as citizens, than as members of this or that minority” (ibid., p. 69), or, finally, as “immigrant societies” (ibid.). Clyne (1998, p. 11), on the other hand, claims that “multilingualism is no longer widely perceived to be either aproblem or a specific right for some groups”. 44 STUDIE ZAPLIKOVANÉ LINGVISTIKY 1/2015 The citizenship laws cohere with the problem of lacking definition of national minority and unclear distinction between autochthonous and immigrant minorities. It is questionable when exactly immigrants become national minorities, because the acquisition of citizenship of its members does not in itself make a group to qualify as a national minority, or even as a national minority residing in the territory of the host state traditionally and for a long time. Additionally, the presence of the element of citizenship in the national legal definitions of national minorities leads to evaluating the positions of the members individually, based on their personal circumstances, rather than apprehending the group as an entity. According to Wright (2000, p. 1), due to the recent “abolition of political and economic frontiers” and the subsequent migration, there is a growing “tendency for the nation-states to fracture” (ibid.). Thus, the congruence of state, language, and people desired by the post-1918 Czechoslovak politicians, or by the communist rulers in Poland after 1948, is not possible. Therefore, citizenship is the leading element to determine a person’s identification with a state, while membership in a nation is amatter of personal choice, not easily depictable by legal arrangements. This can lead to many inaccuracies in legislations and the subsequent confusions regarding the practical application of laws. In both Czechia and Poland, the leading principle for the acquisition of the respective citizenship is jus sanguinis. Therefore, even the second and third generations of immigrants do not easily acquire the citizenship of the host state. In my analysis of film documentaries, I encountered the problem of citizenship as most pertinent to the topic of identity. The narratives dealing with the self-identification of the community members either as Vietnamese or as Czechs or Poles often touched upon the connectedness of this theme with citizenship. These discussions were interwoven with perceived racism of the majorities (Czech and Polish) towards the Vietnamese communities. The term “banana children” is discussed in Banana Children and may certainly have racist overtones. Even though it is often used by the Vietnamese community members themselves, it may be considered politically incorrect due to its stress on appearance and due to stereotypically referring to the Vietnamese as being “yellow”, while the second generation members are “white” inside. Similarly, discussions concerning appearance and possibly, racism, are also present in Warsawers, where “Polish boys” are claimed to be better looking than “Vietnamese boys”, Vietnamese girls are complaining about the demands of their parents regarding the girls’ traditional looks, and one character claims that aPole can be “black” or “white” and that visage does not make a difference for one’s nationality. 4.4 FINAL WORD I have stated in the introduction that his article is a part of my wider research on linguistic rights of national minorities. The analysis of identity narratives in films could be put together with other analyses, especially with socio-legal and doctrinal analysis of legislative texts. Such combination would further allow us to obtain a full picture of the legal arrangements on linguistic rights and their connection SYLVA ŠVEjDAROVá 45 with discursive construction of identities and to examine recontextualization and interdiscursivity. 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ABSTRAKT: Tento článek se zabývá vietnamskými komunitami v Česku a Polsku a jejich diskurzivní konstrukcí v dokumentárních filmech prostřednictvím narativů běžných členů. Teoretickým rámcem je kritická analýza diskurzu (CDA), konkrétně diskurzivně-historický přístup (DHA). Soustředím se na dva celo večerní dokumentární filmy, Banánové děti v Česku a Warszawiacy v Polsku. Tyto filmy zkoumám a srovnávám z hlediska celkového stylu a z hlediska diskurzivních témat. V rámci diskurzivního tématu identity analyzuji referenční a predikační strategie. Nakonec analýzu dávám do souvislosti s obecnou společenskou a legislativní situací přistěhovaleckých komunit v hostitelských zemích. Sylva Švejdarová | Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University <[email protected]>