Linguistic authority, though generally understood as the right claimed by some people and institutions to regiment language use, has also been conceptualized in linguistic anthropology as the power of languages to command respect and attention from community members.  This study explores these two aspects of linguistic authority through an examination of the ways in which the producers of a popular Chinese talk show use subtitles and other on-screen text to construct authority not only for themselves but also for Putonghua (standard Mandarin) in situated moments of interaction.  It highlights the importance of understanding the interplay between the two aspects of linguistic authority as they often co-occur and involve many of the same semiotic resources, ideologies, and processes in their legitimation.

The analysis focuses on an episode of “A Date with Luyu,” in which the Putonghua-speaking host, Luyu, interviews Zhang Jiahui, a Hong Kong actor/director known for his Gangpu (Hong Kong Mandarin).  In this episode, the show’s producers engage in subtitling practices that allow them to appeal to the ideology of anonymity to establish linguistic authority both for themselves and for Putonghua.  Subtitles and other on-screen text facilitate the semiotic process of clasping, connecting Luyu’s interview with Zhang to the interactional frame in which the producers evaluate and remark on Zhang’s Gangpu.  Through the use of these visual linguistic elements, the show’s producers are able to act as anonymous listening subjects who not only provide running commentary on what viewers see and hear, but also contrast Putonghua with Gangpu and Cantonese, and affirm its legitimacy by presenting it as the unmarked, anonymous language against which these minoritized varieties are compared.  This study underscores the need to explore the interplay between the two aspects of linguistic authority, and shows how subtitling practices can provide a useful vantage point for undertaking this endeavor.