Abstract
Pre-modern Japanese society was in a diglossic situation, which Ferguson defines in his classical essay on hierarchical dichotomy as the existence of differing written and spoken varieties of the language. In Meiji Japan many writers and intellectuals sought to resolve this linguistic problem through a movement that aimed to unify spoken and written words, the genbun itchi (言文一致). However, the diglossia in Japan was not as hard-edged, for example, as the one in Korea. Kanbun (漢文classical Chinese writing) was read and written in the Japanese style as a high variety in traditional Japan, which also allowed for the blending of Japanese indigenous words. Furthermore, various styles of this blend could be used with different degrees of colloquial features based on the formality and function of the context. This situation allowed the survival of kanbun and Chinese characters in modern Japan. In fact, from the Meiji period to 1945, all official documents were written in Japanese styled kanbun known as kanbun kundoku tai (漢文訓読体) and not in the colloquial style.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
Though both are syllabic phonogram derived from Chinese characters, hiragana and katakana have different functions in written Japanese. The former has been used to transcribe Japanese indigenous words, while the latter were originally auxiliary signs used in reading Chinese texts. From the Meiji period to 1945, all the official documents were written in the literary style using kanji and katakana. Presently, katakana is mainly used for foreign loan words.
References
Ashibe, Nobuyoshi 芦部信喜 et al. 2009. Nihon-koku kenpō seitei shiryō zenshū (5) 日本国憲法制定資料全集(5). Kenpō no kōgoka, Sūmitsuin shinsha, GHQ tono koshō 憲法の口語化 枢密院審査 GHQとの交渉. Tōkyō: Shinzan sha.
Ferguson, Charles A. 1959. “Diglossia.” Word 15: 325–340.
Fukuchi, Gen’ichirō 福地源一郎. 1964. Meiji konnichi no bunshō 明治今日の文章. In Meiji ikō kokugo mondai ronshū 明治以降国語問題論集, edited by Yoshida, Sumio 吉田澄夫 and Inoguchi, Yūichi 井之口有一, 264–282. Tōkyō: Kazama Shobō. Originally published in Kokumin no tomo 国民の友 13 (204–206): 208.
Futabatei, Shimei 二葉亭四迷. 1984. Futabatei Shimei Zenshū 二葉亭四迷全集, Vol.1. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō.
———. 1985. Futabatei Shimei Zenshū 二葉亭四迷全集, Vol.2. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō.
———. 1986. Futabatei Shimei Zenshū 二葉亭四迷全集, Vol.5. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō.
Gellner, Ernest. 1983. Nations and Nationalism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Hayashi, Shigeru 林茂 and Nishida, Taketoshi 西田長寿, eds. 1961. Heimin shinbun ronsetsu shū 平民新聞論説集. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten.
Kōtoku, Shūsui 幸徳秋水. 1968. “Genbun itchi to shinbunshi” 言文一致と新聞紙. In Kōtoku Shūsui Zenshū 幸徳秋水全集, vol. 3, 391–96. Tōkyō: Meiji bunken. Originally published in Shinbun 新文 1 (2) May 20, 1901.
Lee, Yeounsuk. 2010. The Ideology of Kokugo. Nationalizing Language in Modern Japan. Translated by Maki Hirano Hubbard. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.
Takami, Katsutoshi 高見勝利. 2009. “Kaisetsu” 解説. In Nihon-koku kenpō seitei shiryō zenshū (5) 日本国憲法制定資料全集(5). Kenpō no kōgoka, Sūmitsuin shinsa, GHQ tono koshō 憲法の口語化 枢密院審査GHQとの交渉, edited by Ashibe Nobuyoshi et al., 3–12. Tōkyō: Shinzan sha.
Ueda, Kazutoshi 上田萬年. 1968a. “Kokugo to kokka to” 国語と国家と. In Ochiai Naofumi, Ueda Kazutoshi, Haga Yaichi, Fujioka Sakutarō Shū 落合直文、上田萬年、芳賀矢一、藤岡作太郎集. Vol. 44 of Meiji Bungaku Zenshū 明治文学全集, edited by Hisamatsu Sen’ichi久松潜一, 108–113. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō. Originally published in Ueda Kazutoshi 上田萬年, Kokugo no tame国語のため (Tōkyō: Fuzanbō, 1895).
———. 1968b. “Naichi Zakkyo go ni okeru gogaku mondai” 内地雑居後に於ける語学問題. In Ochiai Naofumi, Ueda Kazutoshi, Haga Yaichi, Fujioka Sakutarō Shū落合直文、上田萬年、芳賀矢一、藤岡作太郎集. Vol. 44 of Meiji Bungaku Zenshū 明治文学全集, edited by Hisamatsu Sen’ichi久松潜一, 131–137. Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō. Originally published in Ueda Kazutoshi 上田萬年, Kokugo no tame vol.2 国語のため第二 (Tōkyō: Fuzanbō, 1903).
Yamamoto, Masahide 山本正秀. 1965. Kindai buntai hassei no shiteki kenkyū 近代文体発生の史的研究. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lee, Y. (2014). Homogenization or Hierarchization?: A Problem of Written Language in the Public Sphere of Modern Japan. In: Árokay, J., Gvozdanović, J., Miyajima, D. (eds) Divided Languages?. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03521-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03521-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03520-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03521-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)