Research on Inclusive Language in the U.S.A
| Project/Area Number |
08610492
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
英語・英米文学
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
TAKEDA Haruko COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Ritsumeikan University Associate Professor, 産業社会学部, 助教授 (40206983)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1996 – 1997
|
| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 1997)
|
| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
|
|---|
| Keywords | language / discrimination / gender / inclusive / education / multiculturalism / feminism / mass media |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
The discourse on gender produced in institutions which define the moderate mainstream, such as schools, churches, governmental offices and the mass media, has immeasurable influence on people's gender formation. In Japan, however, the movements in which social minorities including women have wanted change in public discourse have not been taken seriously. The mass media offered people a frame by which people were led to interpret the movements as treason and as a result justify the present power relation. In this kind of influential discourse in the Japanese media, the politically Correct movement in the U.S.A.has been effectively used as an example of the failure of the the language reform movement. The Japanese mass media has tried to draw people's attention to the attempt in the PC movement to replace discriminatory language by newly-coined terms at the word level and to give an impression that it is a silly attempt to realize what is against the nature of language. Moreover, it par
… More
tly succeeded in giving the image that the state would have complete power and would not allow people freedom of speech. This instigated the backlash from Japanese conservatives and, moreover, has had considerable influence on many Japanese young people, particularly by disuading them to question authority.
I have been researching the non-discriminatory language movement in the United States and introduced it to the Japanese people. In the books on the follwing list (REFERENCES), I discussed the guidelines produced in the United States, the reasons they were formed, the principles employed to get rid of discriminatory expressions, who formed them and how they are applied to real situations. It also gave an outline of the world wide movement toward non-discriminatory languages and the theories behind it.
What is now needed in Japan is someone who can intelligibly encourage people to pay more attention toward the relationship between language and power ; especially, how power is produced depending on who is the speaker/actor, in what kind of frame or structure, in what kind of process, and where or in what genre it is used. In the future, I would like to research, using the methodology of Critical Discourse Analysis, how the discourse related to the language reform movement based on the feminist and multiculturalist point of view in the U.S.A.has been used to ligitimate the present power structure in the U.S.A.and Japan. Less
|
Report
(3 results)
Research Products
(8 results)
