Paper short abstract:

Recent research on kyara (character) and yakuwarigo (role language), by Sadanobu, Kinsui et.al., merits careful examination in the framework of similar research in the "West". This paper examines their approach focusing on the concepts, such as social context, polyphony, social roles, and habitus.

Paper long abstract:

Many positive influences in modern language research came from the outside of linguistic proper, from literary sciences (Bahtin), anthropology (Malinowski), social sciences (Goffman) etc.

In Japan recently there is a dynamic research on linguistic variation stemming from and inspired by popular genres such as manga and anime but reaching deeper into discursive reality and its connection with society. Namely, the research on kyara (character) and its, not necessarily only linguistic, manifestations, and related notion of yakuwarigo (role language), with Toshiyuki Sadanobu and Satoshi Kinsui as chief proponents. Several monographs by these researchers or inspired by them have already been published, among most recent, Sadanobu (2016) and Kinsui (ed. 2012) but their efforts have been almost unknown outside Japan. Their findings stress primacy of social context in considering discursive phenomena and importance of stereotypisation, problematise use of a priori categories, such as primacy of rational action, and crude mechanicistic functionalism. On the other hand, especially in the field of teaching Japanese as a second language where this approach seems to be gaining traction, there seems to be an oversimplified superficial understanding of its tenets and its achievements.

Based on the many parallels with thinking about language and society in the "West", among others, Bahtin, Bourdieu, Coseriu, Goffman, Halliday, I attempt in this paper to analyse and locate this research in the tradition of the research represented by the above authors, focusing in particular on the key concepts, such as social context, polyphony, social roles, imitation languages and habitus. My tentative conclusion is that the research on character and role language, while developing in isolation, fits well in the tradition represented by the above authors and has also new aspects that can contribute to our understanding of language in society.

Key words: kyara (character), yakuwarigo (role language), habitus, linguistic variation

Literature:

Sadanobu Toshiyuki (2016) Komyunkikēshon no gengoteki sekkin (コミュニケーションの言語的接近, Linguistic approach to communication). Tokyo: Hitsuji Shobo.

Kinsui Satoshi, ed. (2012) Yakuwarigo kenkyū no tenkai (役割語研究の展開) Development of research in role language). Tokyo: Kuroshio Publishers.