Heritage, Nationhood, And Language: Migrants With Connections To Japan (critical Asian Studies)

The notion of "heritage" has become one of the global tropes in recent years. At the heart of heritage politics are three questions: what heritage is, who decides what it is, and for whom is the decision made. However, existing work on heritage language has rarely tackled these questions, assuming that teaching children of migrants their "heritage language" empowers them. This book challenges this assumption, situating the notion of heritage language in the host societyâe(tm)s involvement in social justice, nation-building efforts, (superficial) celebration of diversity, and investment on global links the migrants offer as well as the migrantsâe(tm) fear of discrimination and desire for belonging, social status, and economic gain. Based on ethnographic research in Bolivia, Peru, the United States, and Japan, the book illuminates the complexity and political nature of determining what constitutes heritage language for migrants with connections to Japan. This volume opens up a new field of investigation in heritage language studies: the complex linkage between heritage language and social justice for migrants. This book was published as a special issue of Critical Asian Studies. "The latter half of the twentieth century saw the notion of 'heritage' become one of the critical global tropes, through which many have voiced their preoccupations and aspirations. At the heart of heritage politics are three questions: what heritage is, who decides what it is, and for whom is the decision made. Researchers on heritage language education have rarely asked these questions. Determining what constitutes one's 'heritage language' is a complex effort; for migrants, claiming which language is their heritage language can also be a political statement. Based on ethnographic research in Bolivia, Peru, the IUnited States, and Japan, the articles in this volume, 'Heritage, Nationhood and Language', investigate diverse subjectivities of migrants with connections to Japan and analyze the processes by which they negotiate, contest, support, and rupture the notion of heritage. The authors examine the disjunctures between the notion of social justice and the experiences of empowerment and marginalization among these migrants. This volume sheds light on the conditions, processes, and effects of a particular language becoming one's 'heritage'. Intersecting factors that influence the ways a language becomes one's 'heritage' include a desire for belonging, a drive for social status, aspirations for economic gain, fear and guilt about discrimination, and an obligation and hope for social justice"--P. vii, abstract, Neriko Musha Doerr The notion of heritage has become one of the global tropes in recent years. At the heart of heritage politics are three questions: what heritage is, who decides what it is, and for whom is the decision made. However, existing work on heritage language has rarely tackled these questions, assuming that teaching children of migrants their heritage language empowers them. This book challenges this assumption, situating the notion of heritage language in the host society's involvement in social justice, nation-building efforts, (superficial) celebration of diversity, and investment on global links the migrants offer as well as the migrants' fear of discrimination and desire for belonging, social status, and economic gain. Based on ethnographic research in Bolivia, Peru, the United States, and Japan, the book illuminates the complexity and political nature of determining what constitutes heritage language for migrants with connections to Japan. This volume opens up a new field of investigation in heritage language studies: the complex linkage between heritage language and social justice for migrants. This book was published as a special issue of Critical Asian Studies . This book opens up a new field of investigation in heritage language studies by exploring the complex linkage between heritage language and social justice for Japan-related migrants.This book was published as a special issue of Critical Asian Studies.