The Social Life of the Japanese Language
Cambridge University Press, 6/30/2016
EAN 9781107072268, ISBN10: 1107072263
Hardcover, 342 pages, 23.5 x 15.8 x 2.3 cm
Language: English
Why are different varieties of the Japanese language used differently in social interaction, and how are they perceived? How do honorifics operate to express diverse affective stances, such as politeness? Why have issues of gendered speech been so central in public discourse, and how are they reflected and refracted in language use as social practice? This book examines Japanese sociolinguistic phenomena from a fascinating new perspective, focusing on the historical construction of language norms and its relationship to actual language use in contemporary Japan. This socio-historically sensitive account stresses the different choices which have shaped Japanese and Western sociolinguistics and how varieties of Japanese, honorifics and politeness, and gendered language have emerged in response to the socio-political landscape in which a modernizing Japan found itself.
Introduction
toward a dynamic model of Japanese language and social meaning
Part I. The Notion of Nihongo
1. Standard Japanese and its others
building the national language
1.1 Standard Japanese
a building block in the making of modern Japan
1.2 Representations of standard and regional Japanese in the media
2. Standard and regional Japanese
diversity in attitudes and practice
2.1 Diversity in attitudes toward standard and regional Japanese
2.2 Meanings of standard and regional Japanese in practice
negotiating norms
Part II. Japanese Honorifics and Japanese 'Politeness'
3. Keigo
from official policy to popular pedagogy
3.1 Institutional policy on honorific form and use
constructing the Japanese essence
3.2 Keigo for the public
authoritative accounts by linguists
3.3 Honorifics
popular pedagogy
4. Keigo
diversity in attitudes and practice
4.1 Diversity in attitudes toward honorifics
4.2 Honorifics in practice
negotiating norms
Part III. Japanese Language and Gender
5. Gendered Japanese
normative linguistic femininity and masculinity
5.1 Dominant narratives of gendered Japanese
a historical perspective
5.2 Media representations of gendered speech in contemporary Japan
6. Gendered Japanese
diversity in attitudes and practice
6.1 Diversity in attitude toward gendered speech
6.2 Meanings of gendered speech in practice
negotiating norms
Reflections
looking backward, looking forward.