General Analysis on
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Analysis of the data by using Bourdieu's capitalsThe three kinds of capital that coined by Pierre Bourdie have been introduced in the last webpage. It has to be noted that three of them are inter-related. By borrowing these concepts, this section aims to illustrate how the informants see the value of their mother tongue and the situation of Hakka in a foreseeable future.
One may think that Hakka as a minority language would not gain any cultural capital in any context because it is a skill that is not highly recognizable to Hong Kong people and from the data of our interviews, all the respondents had a consensus on this point. However, when considering this language within the village, we would understand that Hakka can still worked as a kind of cultural capital that mark an identity of an individual. When asked about whether knowing Hakka is important in the village, Faat answered "Of course it is. We learnt it from our parents when we were still young. All people living in this village know a certain degree of Hakka." Thus, in the villagers' perspective, but not general public, Hakka is also a kind of cultural capital that signifies a special identity and status of the speakers, if not higher. Apple continued to add on this point, "Only in the context of this village, you would speak Hakka, and only people speak Hakka, would be seen as a member of villagers here." In terms of social capital, apparently Hakka is serving the role as a "glue" to stick the villagers together. It is more obvious when we also consider the issue of migration to Scotland or England. Social capital, as explained, is a kind of resources that allow people to gain benefits from social networks or group membership. In our research, both Faat and Yau have migrated to Scotland and Faat mentioned that "I have moved to Scotland in 80s, following other villagers and friends, who have moved there since 60s and 70s. If it wasn't them, I would not actually move there." Followed by Yau, " It is like someone you can trust went there and you gain the courage to follow." Concerning the lives in Scotland, although they admit that they did not have much gatherings with the friends and villagers because of work, two of them pointed out that the villagers would be the first party to approach when they have problems. Therefore, regarding the values of Hakka, although it is not a commonly used language in a wider context, i.e. Hong Kong society, Hakka still obtain a certain values in relation to the aspects of villagers' sentiment and identity. |