language simplification

[nazia]

(sorry roddy if this is in the wrong section)

I've been doing some research for my degree on the language reforms on the mid 1950s, namely the adoption of Putonghua as the nat'l standard, the 'simplifications' to a few thousand characters, and the hope that pinyin could someday rule.

I've found many interesting views by people who lived through and were directly affected by those changes, ranging from rage amongst members of the literary and scholarly community, confusion regarding cultural identity, down to plain stoic indifference.

I wonder if any of the people on these forums have considered what the (relatively) 'new' simplified/reformed language means to them personally, or of they have ever thought about the issue in an analytical way.

It would be very interesting indeed to know what young people in China think about it (whether they feel cut off from their cultural past?), that is, if they bother to think about it at all. Unfortunately my Chinese is just poor enough to make asking them directly an impossibilty.

Sorry if this is really boring, feel free to ignore!

[Quest]

you are going to open the pandora's box again