Description
Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the historical construction of language norms and actual language use in contemporary Japan. The authors explore 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.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: 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.
