1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Language, Culture and Society
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Please take her as your wife
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

This article investigates linguistic and visual representations of the Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan, in Satoru Noda’s popular televised Japanese anime . The study employs multimodal analysis, focusing on content, context, characters, and perspectives related to the deployment of the Ainu language using the perspectives of raciolinguistics, coloniality, and intersectionality, to examine GK’s representations of Ainu regarding two Japanese national discourses on race: the current discourse of “ethnic harmony” (or multiculturalism) and Ainu as a dying race, popularized in the early 20th century. It argues that unintentionally constructs a sanitized Ainu-Japanese relationship that epitomizes the discourse of ethnic harmony by erasing Japan’s colonial past. Simultaneously, reproduces Ainu as a dying race discourse by contrasting a young bilingual Ainu co-protagonist and her monolingual grandmother. The article discusses how advanced/backward distinctions that the Japanese elites appropriated from the 19th-century colonial discourse are reinscribed in this anime with a modern twist. It also advocates our need to raise critical questions about language, race, and power for a just society in various contexts, including popular media.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/lcs.21020.ito
2024-03-19
2024-10-10

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/lcs.21020.ito
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Agha, A.
    (2003) The Social Life of Cultural Value. Language & Communication, , –. 10.1016/S0271‑5309(03)00012‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(03)00012-0 [Google Scholar]
  2. (2005) Voice, Footing, Enregisterment. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, (), –. Social Science Premium Collection. 10.1525/jlin.2005.15.1.38
     https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.2005.15.1.38 [Google Scholar]
  3. Alim, H. S.
    (2016) Introducing raciolinguistics: Racing language and languaging race in hyperracial times. InH. S. Alim, J. R. Rickford, & A. F. Ball (Eds.), Raciolinguistics: How language shapes our ideas about race (pp.–). Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190625696.003.0001
     https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190625696.003.0001 [Google Scholar]
  4. Androutsopoulos, J.
    (2016) Theorizing media, mediation and mediatization. InN. Coupland (Ed.), Sociolinguistics: Theoretical debates (pp.–). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781107449787.014
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107449787.014 [Google Scholar]
  5. Animeju+
    Animeju+ (2023) Goruden Kamui dai yonki 4/3 hōsō kaishi! [Golden Kamuy the fourth season starts on April 3rd!] RetrievedJuly 20, 2023, fromhttps://animageplus.jp/articles/detail/50028
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Befu, H.
    (1993) Nationalism and Nihonjinron. InH. Befu (Ed.), Cultural nationalism in East Asia: Representation and identity (pp.–). Berkeley, Calif.: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bucholtz, M., & Lopez, Q.
    (2011) Performing blackness, forming whiteness: Linguistic minstrelsy in Hollywood film. Journal of Sociolinguistics, (), –. 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2011.00513.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2011.00513.x [Google Scholar]
  8. Crunchyroll
    Crunchyroll. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttps://beta.crunchyroll.com/
  9. Golden Kamuy
    Golden Kamuy. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Kamuy
  10. Gross, T.
    (2022, December27). “Reservation Dogs” co-creator says the show gives audiences permission to laugh. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/27/1145596961/reservation-dogs-co-creator-says-the-show-gives-audiences-permission-to-laugh
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Hiramoto, M.
    (2010) Anime and intertextualities: Hegemonic identities in Cowboy Bebop. Pragmatics and Society, (), –. 10.1075/ps.1.2.03hir
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.1.2.03hir [Google Scholar]
  12. Hiramoto, M., & Park, J. S.-Y.
    (2010) Media intertextualities: Semiotic mediation across time and space. Pragmatics and Society, (), –. 10.1075/ps.1.2.00int
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.1.2.00int [Google Scholar]
  13. Hokoreru bunka o imani. Ainugo no sensei, Sekine Maya-san
    Hokoreru bunka o imani. Ainugo no sensei, Sekine Maya-san (2018, October28). Nihon keizai shinbun. https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO37012500W8A021C1CC1000/
  14. Inoue, M.
    (2006) Vicarious language: Gender and linguistic modernity in Japan. University of California Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Ito, R.
    (2022) Edutaining with indigeneity: Mediatizing Ainu bilingualism in the Japanese anime, Golden Kamuy. Language & Communication, , –. 10.1016/j.langcom.2022.06.013
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2022.06.013 [Google Scholar]
  16. (2021) Teach me about liberalism: Constructing social elites and the English divide in the Japanese TV drama, Massan. Discourse, Context & Media, , . 10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100495
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100495 [Google Scholar]
  17. Ito, R., & Bisila, M.
    (2020) Blond hair, blue eyes, and “bad” Japanese: Representing foreigner stereotypes in Japanese anime. Language Awareness, (), –. 10.1080/09658416.2020.1786578
     https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2020.1786578 [Google Scholar]
  18. Irankarapte
    Irankarapte. (n.d). Irankarapte campaign. Retrieved fromwww.irankarapte.com/index.html
  19. Jaffe, A.
    (2011) Sociolinguistic diversity in mainstream media: Authenticity, authority and processes of mediation and mediatization. Journal of Language and Politics, (), –. 10.1075/jlp.10.4.05jaf
     https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.10.4.05jaf [Google Scholar]
  20. Japan Media Arts Festival
    Japan Media Arts Festival. (n.d.). The 24th Social Impact Award Manga section: Golden Kamuy by Noda Satoru, Japan. Japan Media Arts Festival, Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved fromhttps://j-mediaarts.jp/award/single/golden-kamuy/
  21. Kanako Uzawa
    Kanako Uzawa. (n.d.). RetrievedSeptember 22, 2021, fromhttps://ainutoday.com/about-us/
  22. Kinsui, S.
    (2003) Vaacharu nihongo: Yakuwarigo no nazo [Virtual Japanese: Mystery of Role Language]. Iwanami shoten.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. (Ed.) (2011) Yakuwarigo kenkyū no tenkai [Development of role language research]. Kuroshio shuppan.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Kinsui, S., & Yamakido, H.
    (2015) Role language and character language. Acta Linguistica Asiatica, (), –. 10.4312/ala.5.2.29‑42
     https://doi.org/10.4312/ala.5.2.29-42 [Google Scholar]
  25. Kitahara Jirōta Mokottunas
    Kitahara Jirōta Mokottunas (2020, May4). Retrieved fromhttps://www.nippon.com/en/authordata/kitahara-jirota-mokottunas/
  26. Komori, Y.
    (2012) Rule in the Name of “Protection”: The Vocabulary of Colonialism. InM. Mason & H. Lee (Eds.), Reading Colonial Japan (pp.–). Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Lawrence, B.
    (2004) “ Real” Indians and others: Mixed-blood urban Native peoples and indigenous nationhood. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Lippi-Green, R.
    (1997) English with an accent: Language, ideology, and discrimination in the United States. London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Maegaard, M., Milani, T. M., & Mortensen, K. K.
    (2019) Mediatizing intersectionality. Discourse, Context & Media, , . 10.1016/j.dcm.2019.100349
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2019.100349 [Google Scholar]
  30. Mason, M., & Lee, H.
    (2012) Introduction. InM. Mason & H. Lee (Eds.), Reading Colonial Japan: Text, Context, and Critique (pp.–). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. 10.1515/9780804781596
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804781596 [Google Scholar]
  31. McElhinny, B.
    (2014) Theorizing gender in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology:Toward effective interventions in gender equality. InS. Ehrlich, M. Meyerhoff, & J. Holmes (Eds.), The Handbook of Language, Gender, and Sexuality: Handbook of Language, Gender and Sexuality (Second, pp.–). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. 10.1002/9781118584248.ch2
     https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118584248.ch2 [Google Scholar]
  32. Meek, B. A.
    (2006) And the Injun goes “How!”: Representations of American Indian English in white public space. Language in Society, (), –. 10.1017/S0047404506060040
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404506060040 [Google Scholar]
  33. (2013) Voice of (White) reason: Enunciations of difference, authorship, interpellation, and jokes. InS. T. Bischoff, D. Cole, A. V. Fountain, & M. Miyashita (Eds.), Persistence of Language: Constructing and confronting the past and present in the voices of Jane H. Hill (pp.–). John Benjamins. 10.1075/clu.8.13mee
     https://doi.org/10.1075/clu.8.13mee [Google Scholar]
  34. (2020) Racing Indian Language, Languaging an Indian Race. InH. S. Alim, A. Reyes, & P. V. Kroskrity (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Language and Race. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190845995.013.20
     https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190845995.013.20 [Google Scholar]
  35. Merskin, D.
    (2016) Native Americans: The Denial of Humanity. InThe Routledge Companion to Media and Race (pp.–). Routledge. 10.4324/9781315778228‑20
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315778228-20 [Google Scholar]
  36. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) (Director)
    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) (Director) (2018, January9). MEIJI 150th: The Origin of Fundamental Values of Japan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2e1kCuUu_E
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Mitchell, J. G.
    (2020) Watching in Tongues: Multilingualism on American Television in the 21st Century. Vernon Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Morris-Suzuki, T.
    (2018) Performing Ethnic Harmony: The Japanese Government’s Plans for a New Ainu Law. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, (), –.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Moseley, Christopher
    (ed.) 2010 Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version: www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  40. Nakagawa, H.
    (2019) Ainu bunka de yomitoku Golden Kamuy [Interpreting Golden Kamuy by Ainu culture. Tokyo: Shūēsha.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Nakamura, M.
    (2013) Honyaku ga tsukuru nihongo: Hiroin wa “onnakotoba’ o hanashi tsuzukeru [Japanese language that translation creates: Heroines continue to speak feminine language]. Hakutakusha.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. The National Ainu Museum
    The National Ainu Museum (2020, July). About the museum. Retrieved fromhttps://nam.go.jp/en/about/
  43. NHK Hokkaido (2021, August4). Upopoy kaigyō ichinen de mieta mono [What we learn from Upopoyʻs opening]. https://www.nhk.or.jp/hokkaido/articles/slug-n67f274bbf0c3
  44. Noda, S.
    (2015) Golden Kamuy (Vol.). Tokyo: Shūēsha.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Occhi, D. J., StrutzSreetharan, C. L., & Shibamoto-Smith, J. S.
    (2010) Finding Mr Right: New Looks at Gendered Modernity in Japanese Televised Romances. Japanese Studies, (), –. 10.1080/10371397.2010.518605
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10371397.2010.518605 [Google Scholar]
  46. Okazaki, T.
    (2019) Ainu language shift. InP. Heinrich & Y. Ōhara (Eds.), Routledge handbook of Japanese sociolinguistics (pp.–). Routledge. 10.4324/9781315213378‑23
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315213378-23 [Google Scholar]
  47. Pietikäinen, S.
    (2003) Indigenous identity in print: Representations of the Sami in news discourse. Discourse & Society, (), –. 10.1177/09579265030145003
     https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265030145003 [Google Scholar]
  48. (2016) Critical debate: Discourse, boundaries and social change. InN. Coupland (Ed.), Sociolinguistics: Theoretical Debates (pp.–). Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781107449787.013
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107449787.013 [Google Scholar]
  49. Poplack, S.
    (2001) Code-switching (linguistic). International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, , –. 10.1016/B0‑08‑043076‑7/03031‑X
     https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03031-X [Google Scholar]
  50. Pua, P., & Hiramoto, M.
    (2018) Meditatization of East Asia in James Bond films. Discourse, Context & Media, , –. 10.1016/j.dcm.2017.01.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.01.003 [Google Scholar]
  51. Rosa, J., & Flores, N.
    (2017) Unsettling Race and Language: Toward a Raciolinguistic Perspective. Language in Society, (), –. 10.1017/S0047404517000562
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404517000562 [Google Scholar]
  52. Siddle, R.
    (2002) An epoch-making event? The 1997 Ainu Cultural Promotion Act and its impact. Japan Forum, (), –. 10.1080/0955580022000008763
     https://doi.org/10.1080/0955580022000008763 [Google Scholar]
  53. Siddle, R. M.
    (2009) The Ainu Indigenous people of Japan. InM. Weiner, Japan’s Minorities (2nd ed., pp.–). London & New York: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Shibamoto Smith, J. S., & Occhi, D. J.
    (2009) The green leaves of love: Japanese romantic heroines, authentic femininity, and dialect. Journal of Sociolinguistics, (), –. 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2009.00422.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2009.00422.x [Google Scholar]
  55. Shimazu, R.
    (2018) Possibilities and issues of the Ainu cultural studies in Hokkaido: From the point of view of ESD. Bulletin of the Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University, Part 3, Education and human science (), –. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/socialstudies/2012/117/2012_2/_article/-char/ja/
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Spiker, C. M.
    (2020) The Indigenous Shôjo: Transmedia Representations of Ainu Femininity in Japan’s Samurai Spirits, 1993–2019. The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, , –. 10.21900/j.jams.v1.502
     https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v1.502 [Google Scholar]
  57. (2023) Food as Contact Zone: Navigating the Ainu/Wajin Encounter in Golden Kamuy (2014–). Verge: Studies in Global Asias, (), –. 10.1353/vrg.2023.a903029
     https://doi.org/10.1353/vrg.2023.a903029 [Google Scholar]
  58. Stamou, A. G.
    (2018) Sociolinguistics of fiction. Discourse, Context & Media, , –. 10.1016/j.dcm.2018.03.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.03.003 [Google Scholar]
  59. Suzuki, S.
    (2022) Asian masculinity celebrated and otherised: Representations of Chinese and Korean men in Japanese written media. Gender & Language, (), –. 10.1558/genl.18803
     https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.18803 [Google Scholar]
  60. Tomida, D.
    (2020) Future is MINE -Ainu My Voice-. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQPqHGG5NGc
     [Google Scholar]
  61. TV anime Golden Kamuy official site
    TV anime Golden Kamuy official site (n.d.). TV anime, Golden Kamuy Official site. Retrieved fromhttps://www.kamuy-anime.com/
  62. Ueda, M.
    (2021, July21). Nittere “Sukkiri” ni Hōsō rinri ihan Ainu Hatsugen de BPO: Asahi Newspaper Digital. [Ainu statement of Nippon TV “Sukkiri” violates broadcasting ethics: BPO: Asahi Newspaper Digital] https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASP7P6H4MP7PUCVL00C.html
     [Google Scholar]
  63. Umeda, S.
    (2019, August5). Japan: New Ainu Law Becomes Effective | Global Legal Monitor [Web page]. //www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/japan-new-ainu-law-becomes-effective/
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Uzawa, K., & Watson, M. K.
    (2020) Urespa (“growing together”): The remaking of Ainu-Wajin relations in Japan through an innovative social venture. Asian Anthropology, (), –. 10.1080/1683478X.2019.1699599
     https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478X.2019.1699599 [Google Scholar]
  65. Wong, A. D., Su, H.-Y., & Hiramoto, M.
    (2021) Complicating raciolinguistics: Language, Chineseness, and the Sinophone. Language & Communication, , –. 10.1016/j.langcom.2020.11.005
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2020.11.005 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/lcs.21020.ito
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: intersectionality ; coloniality ; Ainu ; anime ; enregisterment ; raciolinguistics

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error