Genre and evaluation mapping in qiaopi letters

Abstract

Qiaopi, a special kind of emigrant letters with remittance from overseas Chinese, is an important cultural heritage of China. This study compiles a corpus of 63 qiaopi letters and adopts a novel approach of generic evaluative configurations (GEC) to explore identity construction and interpersonal spaces in them. Among the four zones of GEC, the Event zone serves as the core and obligatory zone of the GEC. The Evaluator zone and Value zone are determined by Event zone. Modulation zone is optional and exhibits the weakest cohesion with the Event zone. Findings show qiaopi follow seven moves and 17 sub-moves. Qiaopi to wives construct three identities: instructor, struggling breadwinner, and decision-maker; qiaopi to parents reveal two ambivalent identities: unfilial son and successful breadwinner; qiaopi to siblings shape the identity of collaborator. Different moves are prioritized to construct diverse interpersonal spaces in the three types of qiaopi. Four interpersonal spaces are identified in the generic spaces: authoritative, submissive, thriving, and negotiable. This study clarifies the mapping relations between genre and evaluative resources and sheds light on how overseas Chinese sustain familial order and hierarchy through qiaopi, offering insights into discourse and identity studies.