An Analysis of the Function of Code-Switching to Construct Identity in the Television Series Escape From the Trilateral Slopes From the Perspective of Figure-Ground Theory

  • Zhang Ningxi Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yunna, China
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30560/ilr.v8n3p19
Keywords: code-switching, identity construction, power relations, cognitive linguistics

Abstract

Code-switching refers to the phenomenon whereby the two parties to a dialogue use different linguistic variants to communicate in the same conversation. It is not only a linguistic phenomenon but also a social phenomenon. Members of society have many identities in their social lives, and their identities can be constructed and perceived by two or more parties in a dialogue through their interactions and social behavior in conversation, or as a result of participants’ orientations and preferences. This paper takes the television series Escape From the Trilateral Slopes as the material to explore the identity construction function of code-switching from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. It is found that the characters in this drama mainly use code-switching to highlight the cultural differences between different languages and achieve the following three types of identity construction: 1) shaping the characters’ default identity image; 2) constructing the characters’ identity of power; and 3) constructing an equivalent identity by narrowing the psychological distance between the two sides of the dialogue.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Blakemore, D. (1992). Understanding utterances. Blackwell.
He, W. Z. (2003). On the humor principle in verbal communication. Foreign Language Education, 7.
He, Z. R. (1995). Gricean pragmatic theory and relevance theory. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 1.
He, Z. R., & Ran, Y. P. (2001). Pragmatics and cognition: Studies in relevance theory. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Levinson, S. C. (2001). Pragmatics. Cambridge University Press.
Pocheptsov, G. G. (1981). Language and humor. Head Publishing House.
Ran, Y. P. (2002). On the social dimension of relevance theory. Journal of Foreign Languages, 3.
Sperber, D., & Wilson, D. (2001). Relevance: Communication and cognition. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Verschueren, J. (2000). Understanding pragmatics. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
Zang, Y. F. (2000). An introduction to cognitive linguistics. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Published
2025-09-18
How to Cite
Ningxi, Z. (2025, September 18). An Analysis of the Function of Code-Switching to Construct Identity in the Television Series Escape From the Trilateral Slopes From the Perspective of Figure-Ground Theory. International Linguistics Research, 8(3), p19. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.30560/ilr.v8n3p19
Issue
Vol 8 No 3 (2025)
Section
Articles
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).