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Images of race and identity in Japanese and American language and culture contact Introduction The foundin g totemi c figur e i n America n anthropology , Fran z Boa s (1858 1942 ), taugh t u s abou t th e danger s o f conflatin g notion s o f race , language , and culture. 1 Being a wise if cantankerous ol d sage, he instilled i n most linguist s and anthropologist s a healthy respec t fo r thi s problem an d gave man y reason s to kee p race , language , an d cultur e separated , bot h i n theor y an d in practic e (Boas, 1940) . Although anthropologist s ma y be awar e o f thes e warnings , w e also kno w to o well tha t mos t peopl e i n th e world car e littl e fo r such cautions . Ethnic an d racia l identit y i s often, i f not always , expresse d i n language , an d such expression s becom e compounde d i n languag e contac t situations. 2 The Japanese-American encounte r ha s gone o n now for well over a centur y and a half . Naturally , bot h Japanes e an d Wester n view s o f self , race , an d language ar e encoded an d reifie d i n th e discourse generate d b y this contact . In thi s chapte r I will briefly trac e thi s pat h o f language contac t an d blending , and discus s ho w the respective languag e attitude s hav e changed . I argue tha t the belief s tha t th e Japanese an d th e Americans hav e ha d abou t th e mutua l superiority an d inferiorit y o f thei r language s hav e gon e throug h severa l metamorphoses, and , in a sense , hav e becom e reversed . Thes e change s i n attitudes tha t w e will examin e ar e outlined i n Tabl e 11.1. The name s o f the English an d Japanese syncretis m alone , I think, mak e a fascinating sociolinguisti c document ; th e moniker s give n a t various time s t o the Japanese-English mixtur e o f codes reflec t changin g attitude s and positions : 'English a s she is Japped' (Chamberlain , 1904) Janglish' (Morris , 1970) Japlish' (Pierce , 1971) Japanized English ' (Sibata , 1975) Japanese English ' (Morita , 1978) 'fapangurisshu (Kashima , 1981) Japalish' (Pereia , 1983 ; Watanabe, 1983) 266 Japanes e English : Languag e an d cultur e contac t 'made i n Japan English ' (Miura , 1985 ) ' "English " i n Japanese' (Miura , 1985 ) 'Katakangd (Abe , 1990 ) 'fapaniizu-Ingurisshu (Kamiya , 1994 ) 'English i n Japanese' (Miura , 1998 ) Jinglish' (Rosin , 2002 ) 'the Japanese variet y o f English ' (Worl d Englishe s proponents, circ a 2000 ) Table 11. 1 Stage s i n th e developmen t o f Japanese-English languag e attitude s American attitude s toward s th e Japanese languag e Stage I : Th e 'Preble' s Law ' stag e (1860s ) Stage II : Th e 'Englis h a s a world language ' stag e (1950 s t o 1980s ) Stage III : Th e 'W e nee d t o spea k Japanese, too ' stag e (1990s ) Japanese attitude s toward s Englis h Stage I : Th e 'W e nee d English ' stag e (1960s ) Stage II : Th e Japanes e i s OK, too ' stag e (1980s ) Stage III : Th e 'Japa n tha t ca n sa y no/linguistic nationalism ' stag e (1990s ) The story , in brief, goes something lik e this: Americans initiall y believe d the Japanese languag e t o b e to o barbarou s o r to o difficul t t o master ; an d besides, even if one could do so, for what purpose coul d it be used? Japanese, of course , fel t tha t Englis h mus t b e studie d i f th e countr y wa s eve r t o modernize. Bu t today more Americans tha n eve r are studying Japanese, an d the numbe r i s increasing a t an exponentia l rate . More interesting , however , i s the ne w self-confidence th e Japanese ar e feeling regardin g thei r ow n language . Gon...

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