Cultural and Regional Identity
Although not considered a language in academic circles, Mandarin variants like Northeastern Mandarin often contribute to a strong regional identity. Native or fluent Chinese speakers can usually recognize a Northeasterner by his or her accent (similar to how a fluent English speaker can assume a person with a Southern American English accent to be from the Southern United States). Because of its informal usage of words and tones, comedians often use Northeast dialects when performing.
The comedian Zhao Benshan is recognized nationwide for his performances which make humorous use of Northeastern dialect and the errenzhuan folk traditions of northeast people.
Read more about this topic: Northeastern Mandarin
Famous quotes containing the words cultural and/or identity:
“To recover the fatherhood idea, we must fashion a new cultural story of fatherhood. The moral of today’s story is that fatherhood is superfluous. The moral of the new story must be that fatherhood is essential.”
—David Blankenhorn (20th century)
“The modern world needs people with a complex identity who are intellectually autonomous and prepared to cope with uncertainty; who are able to tolerate ambiguity and not be driven by fear into a rigid, single-solution approach to problems, who are rational, foresightful and who look for facts; who can draw inferences and can control their behavior in the light of foreseen consequences, who are altruistic and enjoy doing for others, and who understand social forces and trends.”
—Robert Havighurst (20th century)