Speaking to God in Mandarin:On Sincerity, Authenticity, and “Heart Language” among Chinese Christians in an American Church

Webb Keane在《真诚,＂现代性＂,和新教徒》（2002）一文中谈论到新教改革如何使＂真诚＂的概念在现代性话语和欧美文化中占据核心地位。一个＂真诚的人＂是通过在公开场合表现出基于文本的演讲,才能让他/她的信仰被承认。Joel Robbins（2001,2007）也强调了＂真诚＂的概念如何被基督新教培育,促进和传扬。在＂真诚＂概念的框架下,Courtney Handman（2007）批判性地讨论了宣教话语中＂心灵的语言＂——上帝对个人和群体的灵魂说话的语言。在这篇文章里,我将会对美国弗吉尼亚州一个多种族的美国教会的华人基督徒语言选择问题进行讨论。虽然教会里的美国基督徒认为普通话是这些从中国大陆而来的会友的＂心灵的语言,＂这些华人基督徒却在各种宗教和社交场景下广泛使用英语。通过对于民族志素材的叙述和分析,我将讨论个人语言的选择如何处境化＂心灵的语言＂论点和建构一个＂真诚的人＂。我在此田野点的民族志研究展现了跨文化场景下语言使用和宗教体验的关系。

In his article “Sincerity, ‘Modernity ,’ and the Protestants” （Keane 2002）, Webb Keane argues that the Protestant Reformation makes the notion of sincerity pivotal in the discourse of modernity and Euro-American cultures, and the sincere person is realized by publically performing materially mediated speech in order for his/her faith to be recognized and affirmed. Along those lines, Joel Robbins （2001, 2007） stresses that the notion of sincerity is fostered, facilitated, and promoted by Protestantism. Within the framework of sincerity, Courtney Handman （2007） critically discusses the concept of ＂heart language＂ in missionary discourses, with which God speaks to the soul of both the individual and community. In this paper, I am going to analyze the language choice among a group of Chinese Christians in a multi-ethnic Protestant Church in Virginia, US. Although Mandarin Chinese is perceived by my American interlocutors in the church to be the “heart language” of people coming to the U.S. from China's Mainland, my Chinese interlocutors, however, extensively use English in various religious and social settings. Through the description and analysis of my ethnographic data, I will investigate how the individual choice of language, be it Mandarin Chinese or American English, contextualizes the argument of ＂heart language＂ and constructs a sincere person. My research at this particular site sheds light on the relationship between language use and religious practice in cross-cultural contexts.