The social life of the Japanese language aims to present a coherent theoretical perspective that explains the use and interpretation of three heavily scrutinized topics in Japanese sociolinguistics: standard and regional language varieties, honorifics and politeness, and gendered (i.e. women's) language. The theoretical framework guiding this monograph centers on four key issues: sociolinguistic categorization, linguistic norm construction, the role of language ideologies, and indexicality as a fluid process.
In chapter 1, Shigeko Okamoto & Janet Shibamoto-Smith mark the Meiji modernization (1870s–1945) as the starting point for their historical narrative on the dominant Japanese language ideology. The establishment of standard Japanese came to be seen as requisite for the nation's modernization, and regional variation was identified as the primary obstacle to this endeavor. Using official documents, the authors demonstrate how subsequent construction of norms for a new, standard variety and their dissemination, along with efforts to eradicate regional dialects, led to the recontextualization of the latter as inferior within the national context. Although the dominant discourse on the standard-regional relationship has changed to one of apparent coexistence, blogs and surveys examined in chapter 2 indicate a range of attitudes towards standard and regional varieties. Moreover, conversation data suggest that speakers use standard and dialect forms together to produce a style appropriate to each situation, according to their ideologically mediated understandings of those forms and contextual contingencies.
In chapters 3 and 4, the authors argue that, much like standard Japanese, honorific language is a construct of modernization policy. Although government stance has since shifted, the dominant notions of inherent—‘correct honorifics’—and of honorifics directly indexing politeness and deference, remain prevalent in education and mainstream discourse. Close inspection of popular pedagogy and opinion reflected in surveys and mass media, though, indicates that while speakers may share general ideas concerning honorifics, there is much debate over what constitutes ‘correct honorifics’ in situated use. In practice, speakers base their use (or nonuse) of honorifics on their perceptions of prescriptive norms for a given context and their desire to align with or negotiate those norms, while also considering additional possible indexicalities emerging in interaction.
Chapter 5 describes how official pronouncements during language standardization oversaw the integration of language styles deemed historically appropriate for certain women into modern language ideology, ultimately giving rise to modern women's language norms. Through this process of (re)semioticization and (re)enregisterment, particular forms came to index new potential meanings, some of which were gendered. Okamoto & Shibamoto-Smith analyze online forums and spoken conversations in chapter 6 to show how speakers employ this indeterminacy of meanings to accomplish interactional goals, such as persona construction, though such linguistic acts are mediated through diverse stances towards and understandings of cultural and language norms.
Overall, the book presents a thorough and balanced exposition of Japanese sociolinguistics that draws upon and weaves together a diverse range of data, theories, and concepts in order to explain particular language beliefs and practices, while also contributing to broader discussions on the dynamic relationships between language ideology, speaker agency, and multiple indexicality.
