Paper short abstract:

Kata-kana is one of the two syllabries forming part of the triad of logogram/phonogram used to write the Japanese language. Historically it performed one of two functions, however, in its contemporary form, it is often used as a way to white-wash negative words, externalising their ownership.

Paper long abstract:

Kata-kana, as a phonographic element is one of the two syllabries which form part of the triad[ The others being the Sino-Japanese characters, kan-ji (漢字, かんじ), and the second phonetic syllabary, kata-kana (平仮名, ひらがな).] of logogram/phonogram used to write the Japanese language. In its historical form, kata-kana generally performed one of two primary functions; either to capture, highlight, and render non-Japanese 'foreign loan-words[ 外来語 (gai-rai-go)]' entering the Japanese language or to write scientific terms, rather like Latin is used in the West. In its contemporary form, however its prolific use has tended to focus primarily on the first usage, in which guise kata-kana performs one of two further functions. Firstly to phonetically render a word from another language for which no Japanese exists, or secondly, to take a Japanese word for which kan-ji/kana exists, and to then translate or white-wash that word into the English language, after which, using kata-kana, it is reversed back into Japanese by phonetically rendering it to the closest Japanese equivalent e.g., trouble→トラブル→to ra bu ru. It should be noted that this white-washing often occurs with negative words or concepts thus the act externalises the ownership of the concept and alludes to the phenomenon being of 'foreign' origin, not domestic, even when this is not the case. Taking Baudrillard's notion of the simulacral (1981) and Faucault's (1980, 1982) and Faucault & Deluze's (1977) theories of power and control as points of departure, the author presents a treatise which examines and discusses what they called dissassociative kata-kana, as both a tool of externalisation and an agent of cultural subversion and power.