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Volume 17, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1598-7647
  • E-ISSN: 2451-909X
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Abstract

Abstract

This article focuses on the Japanese words and , both of which are used to translate ‘nation’ into Japanese, and explores the dynamic aspects of translation practice in the process of Japan’s modernization in the mid-Meiji era (1868–1912). The (Chinese characters) compounds (國民) and (民族) were both coined during the late nineteenth century during the introduction of Western concepts into Japanese society. first appeared as a translation word at the predawn of Japan’s modernization period and, by the mid-Meiji era, when the alternative translation emerged, was relatively widespread. This paper analyzes texts written by leading intellectuals and journalists in Japan at the time and attempts to contextualize them within their sociocultural and historical background. The analysis indicates that the rise of nationalism around the mid-Meiji era, Japan’s achievement in establishing a modern state and its involvement in territorial expansion in East Asia beginning with the Sino-Japanese war (1894–1895), as well as its simultaneous struggle to unify the Japanese people as , were crucial aspects in determining the use of the alternative translation, .

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/content/journals/10.1075/forum.18005.tsu
2019-07-26
2024-10-04

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/content/journals/10.1075/forum.18005.tsu
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): analyse dans une optique historique et socio-cultrelle; context-oriented approach; Japanese; langue japonaise; l’ère de Meiji (1868–1912); Meiji era (1868–1912); modernisation; modernization; nation

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