This project visualises the experience of being ethnically one, but
linguistically another. Coined as an ethnic-linguistic dissonance,
the research centers language and its scripts as the interconnecting
element in culture, investigating hybrid experiences through
bi-directional trans-scripting, focusing on both the Chinese and
Latin scripts.
Through positioning one's self-perception of identity as a framework
coined as an 'identity-literacy', it bridges the sense-making of
cultural positioning to typographic mis-recognition and
re-recognition, forming hybridised scripts that appear familiar, yet
out-of-place. The research demonstrates how deeply-integrated
language is to cultural sense-making, positioning what is deemed as
dissonant into a celebrated site of co-existence through the
hybridisation of scripts. See the study of several precedents below.
Designed with the spirit of Malaysia being freed from colonial
rule, the inflections of elements from non-Latin scripts into
Latin reflect the cultural and linguistic hybridity present in
Malaysia’s linguistic landscape. Kedai-Kedai Merdeka visualises
the nation’s blend of cultures, encapsulating new ways of
presenting co-existence through attempting typographic
creolisation that is Arabicised, Tamilisised, and Sinicised into
a single poster.
Elements of the Chinese script and its character strokes can be
observed through a few details, such as the vertical curved
hooked stroke (竖弯钩) present in the large ‘Kedai-Kedai’
header, the use of vertical reading flows across both edges of
the poster, followed by the use of modular compositions of
Chinese characters towards the bottom.
The main distinguishing factor of the Sinicised attempt in the
poster lies in its modular composition. However, only the words
‘alphabet’ and ‘alien’ contain proper use of trans-scripting,
whereas ‘familiar’ and ‘common’ do not fit into any of the basic
Chinese character compositions.
Bing developed a blended species of script that resemble Chinese
characters in Square Word Calligraphy, but actually consists of
English words. Through injecting the Latin script into Chinese
compositions, Bing introduced new perceptions of cultural norms,
stretching notions of the audience’s perception of language. As
a master calligrapher, Bing was able to blend both scripts
together, forming mixtures of uppercase and lowercase
letterforms constructed with the nuance of calligraphic strokes
that fit into the Chinese character composition.
Rather than solely allowing the audience to interpret the
characters on their own, Square Word Calligraphy was later on
extended to the use of a textbook, an instructional video, and
practice sheets to emulate classroom settings. Hence, the
audience is not only given a guide to help with interpreting the
characters, but are also capable of learning its constructioin
into a square composition.
Among all precedents, Bing's inquiry resonated the most with
what I intended to express. However, there were limitations with
regards to how this relates back to the designer/scripter. This
opened opportunities to not only trans-script bi-directionally,
but to also inject an autoethnographic perspective to this
inquiry through digital means, producing outcomes that represent
personal limitations faced with the Chinese language.
In Hanzi-Graphy, Takagi aimed to demystify general perceptions
that Hanzi characters are incomprehensible and complex, breaking
down its components into what Takagi coins as
‘micro-typography’. This breaks down the Chinese character into
its smaller parts such as the example above, elaborated with
English typographic terminologies to demonstrate how they
represent more than just pictograms.
Where Takagi’s research stands in contrast to Bing’s lies in the
detailed technicalities of her knowledge in digital bilingual
typeface design, whereas Bing’s takes on discursive, artistic
modes of expression with a focus on calligraphy. Though
Hanzi-Graphy doesn’t directly practice trans-scripting, it
strongly interplays between the harmonious relationship of both
the Latin-Chinese type/character compositions through the lens
of extensive type knowledge, bridging binaries of language that
are commonly perceived as opposed.
Bing and Takagi's research combined assisted in spearheading
personal trans-scripting attempts, focusing on minute
typographic details between both scripts. Through rigorous
practice, I later developed my own bi-directional system that
was successful across both script's hybridisation, merging
systemic detail with personal cultural expression.