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In this post, I will focus on the adversative passive usage of nèijuǎn 内卷 ("involution"). 

Etymology

Calque of English involution, from its Latin roots. This sense was coined in Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia (1963) by Clifford Geertz, as an antonym of evolution, where Geertz observed Javanese and Balinese rice farmers failed to transit from labor-intensive farming to capital-intensive farming, but rather developing intensive competition that does not increase productivity.

Usage

1. (economics, social sciences, of a society or nation) to stop developing or progressing despite intense inner competition
2. (neologism, slang) to be in a state of increased competition for limited resources, requiring great effort to stay ahead
3. (neologism, slang) to study harder or work longer as a result of intense competition among peers

(source)

"Nèijuǎn 内卷" ("involution") has become a very hot term in China, and not a happy one.

From my colleague, Jing Hu:

Many Chinese people now understand "nèijuǎn 内卷" ("involution") as unhealthy / dysfunctional competition.

My sister in China talks to me a lot about Zhōngguó xuéshēng bèi nèijuǎn 中国学生被内卷* (the word “bèi 被“ implies that nobody would take the initiative / be willing to join in nèijuǎn 内卷; on the contrary, they are forced to be involved in such nèijuǎn 内卷 / fiercely competitive situation) because her daughter is now in 12^th grade and is applying for colleges in the U.S (they live in China).  In the past, students were told that an SAT score of 1450 /1600 was needed for getting into the top 50 universities in the U.S., but now 1450 is considered as a poor score and many students in her daughter’s class scored above 1550, however, still, less than 6-7% of students can get into top 50 universities in the U.S.

[*VHM tr.:  "Chinese students have been involutionized."]

This use of bèi 被 may be analyzed as follows:

• (neologism) passively; under duress; in a forged [sic] manner; etc.

  被自殺／被自杀  ―  bèi zìshā  ―  to "be suicided"; to be killed by the authorities who then pass one's death off as suicide

  被就業／被就业  ―  bèi jiùyè  ―  to "be achieved employment"; to be falsely recorded as employed (for the purpose of falsifying employment data)

  被吸菸／被吸烟  ―  bèi xīyān  ―  to smoke secondhand

  被嫖娼  ―  bèi piáochāng  ―  to be falsely accused of visiting a prostitute

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In other words, when the adversative passive is invoked, the subject suffers the negative consequence of being afflicted by the action of the verb.

The transformation of “bèi 被“ from n./v. "cover; bedding; quilt; blanket" to passive signifier is a fascinating instance of bleaching.

The term ‘semantic bleaching’ refers to a type of semantic change whereby the conventional lexical meaning of a word is blurred when the word is used to signal a grammatical function. This change is also called ‘fading’, ‘depletion’, ‘attrition’, ‘weakening’, and ‘desemanticization’.

(source)

Notice the Kangxi radical #145 yī 衣 (⻂) meaning "clothing" (that which one wears [esp. on the upper part of one's body]; covering for the body.

"Involution" — wrapped up in a {[more or less] heavy / suffocating) blanket, as it were.

 

A note on passive causative "disappeared"

Rahile Dawut (Chinese: 热依拉·达吾提; pinyin: Rèyīlā Dáwútí; Uyghur: راھىلە داۋۇت; b. 1966) was a professor at Xinjiang University in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is internationally recognized as an expert in Uyghur folklore and traditions…. She was disappeared by the Chinese government in 2017 and has not been seen since.

(source)

The Chinese equivalent of "disappeared" in the preceding passage would be "bèi xiāoshī 被消失".

 

Selected articles

• "'Involution', 'working man', and 'Versailles literature': memes of embitterment" (12/23/20)
• "Involution, part 2" (12/25/20)
• "'Lying flat' and 'Involution': passive-aggressive resistance" (6/4/21)
• "Suicided: the adversative passive as a form of active resistance" (3/24/10)

January 15, 2023 @ 11:06 am · Filed by Victor Mair under Grammar, Language and politics

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