The ideology of kokugo : nationalizing language in modern Japan / Lee Yeounsuk ; translated by Maki Hirano Hubbard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yi, Yŏn-suk, 1956-

Standardized Title:

Kokugo to iu shisō. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Japanese language--Philosophy.

Japanese language.

Language policy--Japan.

Language policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Edition:

English-language ed.

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawai'i Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Available for the first time in English, The Ideology of Kokugo: Nationalizing Language in Modern Japan (1996) is Lee Yeounsuk's award-winning look at the history and ideology behind the construction of kokugo (national language). Prior to the Meiji Period (1868-1912), the idea of a single, unified Japanese language did not exist. Only as Japan was establishing itself as a modern nation-state and an empire with expanding colonies did there arise the need for a national language to construct and sustain its national identity.Re-examining debates and controversies over genbun itchi (unification of written and spoken languages) and other language reform movements, Lee discusses the contributions of Ueda Kazutoshi (1867-1937) and Hoshina Koichi (1872-1955) in the creation of kokugo and moves us one step closer to understanding how the ideology of kokugo cast a spell over linguistic identity in modern Japan. She examines the notion of the unshakable homogeneity of the Japanese language-a belief born of the political climate of early-twentieth-century Japan and its colonization of other East Asian countries-urging us to pay attention to the linguistic consciousness that underlies "scientific" scholarship and language policies. Her critical discussion of the construction of kokugo uncovers a strain of cultural nationalism that has been long nurtured in Japan's education system and academic traditions. The ideology of kokugo, argues Lee, must be recognized both as an academic apparatus and a political concept.The Ideology of Kokugo was the first work to explore Japan's linguistic consciousness at the dawn of its modernization. It will therefore be of interest to not only linguists, but also historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and scholars in the fields of education and cultural studies.

Contents:

Language and the imagined community

The Japanese language before kokugo : views of Mori Arinori and Baba Tatsui

Perspectives on kokuji, the national script

Genbun itchi and kokugo

The creation of kokugo

The early period of Ueda Kazutoshi

Kokugo and kokka

From kokugo studies to kokugo politics

Hoshina Koichi : a forgotten scholar

The history of kokugogaku

Tradition and reform in kokugo

The ideology of hyojungo

Korea and Poland

What is assimilation?

Manchukuo and the state language

Language for the co-prosperity sphere and the internationalization of the Japanese language.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 28. Aug 2019)

"Originally published in Japanese in 1996 by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo"--T.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 245-258) and index.

ISBN:

9780824870553

0824870557

9780824837617

0824837614

9781441671240

1441671242

OCLC:

663882694