The role of language ideology in forming character identity in Kyung-Sook Shin’s novel “The Court Dancer”

Abstract

Language ideology in forming character identity in Kyung-Sook Shin’s novel “The Court Dancer” translated by Anton Hur, 2018 is viewed in this article as an implementation of Bakhtinian principle of dialogism implemented primarily through internal dialogues of the characters. The scene of introductions at the French Legation is analysed to see the socio-political and cultural beliefs emerging from the culturally determined characters’ value systems. The article briefly overviews the issues of language ideology understanding and the assumption that the language users should be aware of the ideological effects their language is producing. Literary discourse makes use of this prerogative and provides a dialogic opportunity for the value systems from different cultures, geographies and religions to negotiate character identities.