The changing use of deference among the Mississippi Chinese

Abstract

In the biracial southern American state of Mississippi, the Chinese represent a “third culture,” an enclave with their own distinct Mississippi Chinese (MC) culture and community. The MC have learned to negotiate culturally and linguistically between white and black communities, developing speech strategies influenced by both Southern Genteelism and Confucianism. This essay begins with a review of deference, a key rhetorical feature used with particular adroitness by MC living in the Delta. Deference is defined as the courteous yielding to others and may occur in two forms: accommodation (i.e., making the non-MC speaker feel comfortable and welcome) and topic shifting (i.e., changing the subject of conversation). Next, the article includes examples of how this feature has changed or subsided in the speech of urban MC and concludes with some possible reasons for this shift.