Queer Japanese: Gender and Sexual Identities Through Linguistic Practices

by Hideko Abe

Abe presents a comprehensive picture of the linguistic strategies employed by Japanese sexual minorities in various social contexts, from magazine advice columns to bars to text messaging on cell phones to private homes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Japan, Linguistics, Japanese Literature, LGBT, History, Academic

199 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2010

About the author

Hideko Abe is Assistant Professor of Japanese in East Asian Studies Department at Colby College. She is author ofSpeaking of Power: Professional Japanese Women and Their Speeches. Her current research is on the speech of benshi (Japanese narrator for silent films).

Reviews

[loz pontone]

i have no real interest in language studies but i absolutely loved this. so so genuinely interesting!!

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic text. I would't recommend unless you've studied Japanese & Japanese linguistics at the university level. I also think to get the most out of it, it is helpful to have good knowledge of queer/pop culture in Japan and various prominent figures of those that are mentioned throughout the book.
Not that you CANT read it without the above, but it will be a much more surface-level experience.

This was published in 2010, so many of the topics within have continued to evolve & change since then (as I write this in 2024). So be wary of taking this as the current-state-of-things.

Found the manipulation of language within Japan's queer communities, particularly the complexity of オネエ言葉 , to be very interesting.

(ps. not sure what version of the text I got, but there are a handful of typos throughout)

[Nastya]

i read this for my paper on pronoun usage among some queer people
it was nice. nicer than other things i read on this topic in the japanese sphere

[Drew Tschirki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read into speech patterns and practice of LGBTQ Japanese individuals. The author looks at examples from publications, lesbian bars, transgendered celebrities, “onē” people, and so on. It was interesting to understand the variety in language usage, particularly in “onē-kotoba” and how it is diverse in practice, not merely an imitation of stereotypical female speech.

I’m not a linguist, so I sometimes feel that trying to find a reason for everything in linguistics (why someone uses different first person pronouns in Japanese like ore, boku, jibun, etc.) when sometimes I think there may not be a reason. I don’t know if every linguistic practice is indeed deliberate. Thus, some portions did not persuade me.

Also this book is in drastic need of an editor. Some names were misspelled (Fushimi as Fumishi, multiple times) as well as some other issues.

Overall an interesting and fun read, and I’m glad I read it. I suggest for anyone interested in Japanese language / linguistics.

[Eskil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forskeren starta prosjektet sitt da hun satt på en homsebar i Shinjuku og hørte folk snakke, og tenkte "fucking superb, you funky gay dudes", og så satte hun i gang et prosjekt som tok mange mange år for å finne ut hva greia var. Synd det er overveldende fokus på homofile menn, og relativt lite på lesbiske kvinner, men sånn er det nå i blant.

[Maike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really loved the first chapters! So much information, very well explained. Sadly, the chapter on gay speech in theater felt more like a college paper...
Still definetly reccomend!