Vicarious Language: Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Japan (Volume 11) (Asia: Local Studies / Global Themes)

This highly original study provides an entirely new critical perspective on the central importance of ideas about language in the reproduction of gender, class, and race divisions in modern Japan. Focusing on a phenomenon commonly called "women's language," in modern Japanese society, Miyako Inoue considers the history and social effects of this language form. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a contemporary Tokyo corporation to study the everyday linguistic experience of white-collar females office workers and on historical research from the late nineteenth century to 1930, she calls into question the claim that "women's language" is a Japanese cultural tradition of ancient origin and offers a critical geneaology showing the extent to which this language form is, in fact, a cultural construct linked with Japan's national and capitalist modernity. Her theoretically sophisticated, empirically grounded, interdisciplinary work brilliantly illuminates the relationship between culture and language, the nature of power and subject formation in modernity, and how the complex nexus of gender, language, and political economy are experienced in everyday life. Contents......Page 10 List of Illustrations and Tables......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 16 Note on Japanese Names and the Romanization of Japanese Language......Page 20 Introduction: Women’s Language and Capitalist Modernity in Japan......Page 22 PART ONE: LANGUAGE, GENDER, AND NATIONAL MODERNITY: THE GENEALOGY OF JAPANESE WOMEN’S LANGUAGE, 1880S–1930S......Page 56 1. An Echo of National Modernity: Overhearing “Schoolgirl Speech”......Page 58 2. Linguistic Modernity and the Emergence of Women’s Language......Page 96 3. From Schoolgirl Speech to Women’s Language: Consuming Indexicality in Women’s Magazines, 1890–1930......Page 129 PART TWO: THE NATION’S TEMPORALITY AND THE DEATH OF WOMEN’S LANGUAGE......Page 182 4. Capitalist Modernity, the Responsibilized Speaking Body, and the Public Mourning of the Death of Women’s Language......Page 184 PART THREE: RE-CITING WOMEN’S LANGUAGE IN LATE MODERN JAPAN......Page 226 Introduction......Page 228 5. “Just Stay in the Middle”: The Story of a Woman Manager......Page 238 6. Defamiliarizing Japanese Women’s Language: Strategies and Tactics of Female Office Workers......Page 273 Afterword: This Vicarious “Japanese Women’s Language”......Page 299 Bibliography......Page 304 A......Page 330 C......Page 331 E......Page 332 G......Page 333 H......Page 334 L......Page 335 M......Page 336 O......Page 338 Q......Page 339 S......Page 340 V......Page 342 W......Page 343 Z......Page 344 This highly original study provides a new critical perspective on the central importance of ideas about language in the reproduction of gender, class, and race divisions in modern Japan. Miyako Inoue focuses on a phenomenon commonly called "women's language" by considering the history and social effects of this language form. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a contemporary Tokyo corporation to study the everyday linguistic experience of white-collar female office workers, as well as on historical research from the late nineteenth century to 1930, she questions the claim that "women's language" is a Japanese cultural tradition of ancient origin. She offers a critical genealogy showing the extent to which this language form is, in fact, a cultural construct linked with Japan's national and capitalist modernity. This Highly Original Study Provides An Entirely New Critical Perspective On The Central Importance Of Ideas About Language In The Reproduction Of Gender, Class, And Race Divisions In Modern Japan. An Echo Of National Modernity: Overhearing Schoolgirl Speech -- Linguistic Modernity And The Emergence Of Women's Language -- From Schoolgirl Speech To Women's Language: Consuming Indexicality In The Women's Magazines, 1890-1930 -- Capitalist Modernity, The Responsibilized Speaking Body, And The Public Mourning Of The Death Of Women's Language -- Just Stay In The Middle: The Story Of A Woman Manager -- Defamiliarizing Japanese Women's Language: Strategies And Tactics Of Female Office Workers. Miyako Inoue. A Philip E. Lilienthal Book--p. [i]. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 283-308) And Index. Echo of national modernity: overhearing "schoolgirl speech" Gembun itchi linguistic modernity and the emergence of "women's language." From schoolgirl speech to women's language: consuming indexicality in the Women's magazines, 1890/1930 Capitalist modernity, the responsibilized speaking body, and the public mourning of the loss of women's language "Just stay in the middle": a story of a woman manager Defamiliarizing women's language: strategies and tactics of female office workers. Provides a critical perspective on the central importance of ideas about language in the reproduction of gender, class, and race divisions in modern Japan. Focusing on a phenomenon commonly called "women's language," in modern Japanese society, this title considers the history and social effects of this language form.