Nationalism and gender in the representation of non-Japanese characters’ speech in contemporary Japanese novels

Abstract

This study demonstrates that two types of language ideologies (linguistic nationalism and feminine language normativity) influence how Japanese contemporary novels represent non-Japanese characters’ speech. It investigates the role of gender and observes that novelists only infrequently assign highly gendered utterance-final forms to non-Japanese characters when they speak in Japanese. This tendency is more salient among the representations of male non-Japanese characters. Masculine expressions seem to belong to a set of linguistic resources that are considered available only to the Japanese. This exclusivism, i.e., linguistic nationalism, might explain the lack of highly masculine forms among non-Japanese characters in novels. As for the relatively frequent assignment of gendered language for female characters, the normativity of feminine language makes it part of the basic language of all female speakers including non-Japanese individuals. In addition, feminine expressions are not as strongly associated with authenticity as masculine expressions.

An Exploration of the Precision Path of Integrating Artificial Intelligence Technology into Japanese Literature Education

“…Literature [12] points out that academics have not adequately evaluated Motoori Norinaga's poetics and its influence on the sacralization of Japanese literature compared to the many studies of his work in the history of Japanese thought. Literature [13] examines the representation of non-Japanese characters in contemporary Japanese novels, focusing on the gendered nature of non-Japanese characters' speech and comparing the speech characteristics of women and men, suggesting a certain linguistic nationalism. Literature [14], on the other hand, explores the horrific rendering of the Matrix in Japanese science fiction, as well as the changes in the image of Japanese mothers in the process of social transformation that it reflects and analyzes Japan's social, political, and economic landscape in the post-war period based on literary images.…”