Linguistic Gendering of Non-Traditional Female Characters in Japanese Translations of American Superhero Movies

Stefanie Thomas Ohio State University

Introduction RoboCop, the following exchange between a female police officer and her new male Japanese, so Miyako Inoue writes colleague occurs just after she has in her study Vicarious Language: Gender violently subdued a rowdy criminal: and Linguistic Modernity in Japan, is regarded as unique by many of its native Female: I better drive until you speakers in the fact that specific know your way around. grammatical markers denote the gender of Male: I usually drive when I’m breaking in a new partner. (156) the speaker (2). She elaborates, “Women’s language also is a national issue, a self- In the Japanese subtitles, this scene is conscious parameter of civil order and rendered as follows: social change. Nationwide opinion polls are regularly conducted on whether Female: Watashi ga unten suru wa. women’s language is becoming (I will drive.) ‘corrupted’ and, if so, how,” stating that Male: Kimi ni wa makaseraren. (I even international publications such as the can’t leave it to you.) (Nornes 156) New York Times have taken note of differences in the speech of Japanese Nornes describes this scene as women over time, as well as compared to fundamentally corrupted, i.e. being men, and to women outside of Japan (2-3). subjected to a translation which “violently Women’s speech is often associated with appropriates the source text,” conforming politeness, empathy, and nonassertiveness the original to the customs of the target (Inoue 2). This fact often leads to – for a language and culture and thereby western viewer capable of comprehending domesticating any displayed otherness Japanese – bizarre decisions regarding the included in the foreign narrative (155). He, translation of female characters’ lines in too, mentions the fact that Japanese American-made television series and linguistically marks speaker gender, movies for a Japanese viewership. Abé remarking that translations of fictional Mark Nornes cites one of the more narratives in subtitles “dramatize extreme examples in his book Cinema differences through stereotypes of the way Babel: Translating Global Cinema: In the men or women should speak” (156). In 1987 dystopian science fiction movie regard to the scene quoted above, Nornes

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 196

states that the translator had other options the prevalence of female speech markers, in marking the female officer’s utterances, as well as the deliberate absence of but chose to evacuate the power play on patterns regarded as “male,” in both the display in the original English version in Japanese subtitles and the dub track. line with Japanese conventions (156-7). Furthermore, it will take into account However, as this is the only example of differences in the demeanors and potentially inappropriate gendering Nornes backgrounds of the female characters mentions in a book which was published in whose utterances are examined, as 2007, a number of questions present “feminine” speech features may be more themselves: fitting for some of them than for others. Finally, it will consider the environment in 1. The movie referenced by Nornes which female speech occurs. The was released 21 years prior to his book’s conclusion will feature a few ideas on how publication. Is this strict gendering still to expand this short study, which is, by present in more recent film releases, and large, a mere preliminary effort. particularly in those in which female According to Inoue’s study referenced characters occupy roles not associated with above, the linguistic features of traditionally feminine behavior? contemporary feminine speech did not 2. If the prevalence of imposed come into being until the late nineteenth gendered language remains unchanged, century (25). She identifies them as having what are the underlying reasons? been based on Meiji period “schoolgirl 3. Nornes focuses almost exclusively speech,” also called teyo-dawa kotoba in on subtitling techniques in his study. Is accordance with its distinctive utterance there a discernible difference in the end markers (25, 37). Male intellectuals introduction of gendered language commented on this phenomenon in between subtitles and dubs? Japanese print media from approximately 1887 through World War I, considering it In this paper, I seek to address the “strange” and “unpleasant” to the ear (37). above questions by providing a short Interestingly, the original purpose of historical overview of the development of indexing the features of this “schoolgirl women’s language and its perception by speech” was to contain it; in fact, in one of contemporary Japanese native speakers. I the earliest essays on the topic, published will also point out differences between its as “Vogue Speech” in the women’s application in the translation of fictional magazine Kijo no tomo, Ozaki Koyo, one narratives and its actual prevalence in of the most widely-known Meiji period daily language use. The following part will writers, exhorted educators and parents to analyze the speech patterns of female curb young women’s use of these characters in three American action linguistic features by relating them to movies released within the last fifteen seediness and low class (Inoue 57-8). years, all of which are part of the Inoue points out the genbun’itchi superhero subgenre: Hellboy (Columbia movement (i.e. the movement to TriStar, 2004), Kick-Ass (Lionsgate, 2010), modernize written language by taking And Marvel’s The Avengers (Marvel western naturalist novels as example) as a Studios, 2012). This analysis will consider primary originator of the shift from The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 197

uncouth, “rough” schoolgirl speech to not grow up in the urban environment of women’s speech (83). Concerned with the Kantō area, relates in the introduction developing a literary style which depicted to her study that she initially experienced active speech in a life-like manner, rather women’s speech as the language of than in the formal literary register of commodities and even whiteness, as she Japanese employed until that point, the was primarily exposed to it via the depiction of teyo-dawa kotoba in works of consumption of television broadcasts, writers affiliated with this effort led to its including Japanese dubbed versions of dissemination beyond its originators, for foreign films (7-8). Considering its origins, example in the narrative Sanshiro (1909) its proliferation in this manner is not by Natsume Sōseki, published at the difficult to explain: As a linguistic norm culmination of the genbun’itchi movement which emerged relatively recently, (Inoue 91). Interestingly, Inoue points out women’s language “requires a normalizing that the teyo-dawa speech depicted in both discipline deployed by a range of cultural critical essays and, later, in fictional agents (writers, teachers, scholars - and, of narratives is in itself reified through course, reflexive, norm-conscious readers, repeated citation, rather than a true-to-life speakers, and listeners) to institute and depiction of the speaking style of the maintain it as a norm […]” (Inoue 164). average Meiji era schoolgirl (72-3). The Inoue relates that the use of these linguistic attribution of “softness” to contemporary markers after their establishment in the women’s speech markers is, in fact, an public consciousness enabled those living effect of their designation as such, rather in rural areas, away from the centers of than an inherent feature which made them power, to “participate in the imagined suitable for this qualitative association; by national (speech) community. The deracinating these linguistic features from dissemination of women’s language, for their “rough” origins in an overarching these women, had little to do with gender national narrative which claims that it has and everything to do with class and region, always existed, it is left bereft of as these elements became punctuated historicity (Inoue 77). Be that as it may, within the nationalist and capitalist the proliferation of women’s speech project,” as was the case for her (103). markers in literature and magazines, in Passive consumption of this normed conjunction with knowledge of their gendered language is not the only way in origins fading in the public mind, which it is maintained and perpetuated; eventually led to their transformation into Inoue identifies the “mourning” for its loss “the salient sociolinguistic markers of the as one of the more active mechanisms, ideal urban middle-class housewife” stating that: (Inoue 164). As the quotation directly above implies, Mourning the death of women’s feminine speech as it emerged in the first language is a way to maintain and half of the twentieth century does not only normalize the ontology of women’s language in its purest form by fulfill the function of marking gender, but pointing out its absence in the denotes a very specific segment of the present and its presence in the past, female population, including class and insisting that today’s ‘corrupted’ regional considerations. Inoue, who did language use by women is a The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 198

historical consequence of women’s At this point, it should also be continuously and collectively mentioned that, due to female speech failing to preserve a unique existing at the intersection of gender, class, Japanese cultural trait. (165) regionality, and even race by way of

screen translation, female Japanese native She subsequently cites the results of speakers sometimes consider its use polls conducted by the NHK in 1986 and empowering in spite of its nonassertive, by the Kokugo Shingikai (“National “gentle” conceptualization. Inoue not only Language Council,” the body regulating cites sociolinguistic studies from the 80s orthodox Japanese language usage) in and 90s rejecting Western-style feminist 1995, in which two thirds (1986) and a interpretations of it, e.g. Ide and McGloin little less than half of all respondents (1995) (1990), but also mentions a concrete responded that they preferred a gendered example in the form of Sawada-san, an difference in language use (186, 199). officer worker at MJL, who began utilizing Rika Saito goes so far as to argue in feminine speech in order to shed her her dissertation, Building and maintaining Tōhoku accent, perceived as rural and women’s speech: Covert language policy “backwards,” after migrating to Tokyo to and gender construction in Japan, that the attend university there (195, 269). Kokugo Shingikai pursued a “covert Furthermore, Yuka Matsugu’s article “The language policy” in neglecting to directly power of femininity: Can Japanese gender address women’s language as a speech variation signify contradictory social feature for the longest time while meanings?” asserts that utilization of simultaneously regulating kotoba no “super-feminine” gender markers, i.e. midare (language disorder), particularly as active markers such as sentence-final wa employed by young women (232, 234). with rising intonation or kashira, which Saito points out that the Japanese feminist are never used by men, do not only encode movement of the 1960s and 70s, likewise, gender, but also maturity, and can signify did not address women’s speech or sexist stronger assertion when employed in the language in general, and its next wave in presence of younger interlocutors (198, the 80s and 90s failed to reach a 204). conclusion as to the former’s reform (231). Obviously, use of gendered language She states that, while gender lines in in contemporary spoken Japanese is various aspects of life became blurred, inspired by a number of factors, and more women’s speech does not seem to parallel complex than it might initially appear to an this development (231). Like Inoue, Saito outside observer. However, does its also observes that “[l]anguage norms, such prevalence in the media correspond to its as a belief that women and men use everyday use? Obviously, this is not the language differently, particularly in their case in rural areas, as Inoue’s personal daily speech, are so entrenched that many account and her interview with Sawada- speakers consider gendered language to san illustrate, but what about women’s exist naturally,” i.e. that the origins of language’s supposed epicenter, i.e. the linguistic gender differentiation do not urban Kantō area? It turns out that even exist in the consciousness of the general there, actual use is not as common as public (267). media depictions would suggest. Saito The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 199

cites a 1998 study conducted by Satake characters who speak ‘female speech’ are Kuniko, in which the latter found the immediately regarded as ‘homosexual’ following: unless their utterances are jokes” (77-8). She considers the strict gendering in [B]oth female and male college fictional narratives as symbolizing “the students did not seem to use socially accepted ways of language different gendered forms very practice” (130). This is in line with the much in their daily life; however, polls cited by Inoue, as well as Saito’s her study indicates that the students tended to draw a distinctive line observations, and indicates that women’s between women’s and men’s ways speech remains in the public consciousness of speech. They reiterated by way of a self-perpetuating mechanism: stereotypes of “gentle, polite and Fiction models it for consumers, who graceful” women’s speech and accept it as standard and demand it to be “rough, outrageous, and vulgar” present in subsequent works, as well. men’s speech. (272) Shibuya succinctly outlines the

features of gendered speech on page 55 of Likewise, Rinko Shibuya states in her her dissertation as follows: dissertation A synchronic and diachronic study on sex exclusive differences in the Sex Exclusive Lexemes and modern Japanese language, that, other Morphemes than in the fictional narratives of various types she analyzed,  1. Sentence final particles

such as zo, ze, (Male), and wa with [I]t was hard to find evidence that gendered lexemes and morphemes a rising intonation (Female) are commonly used in actuality.  2. Certain referential The use of the sentence final pronouns such as ore, boku, omae, particle wa by Tokyo dialect kimi, (Male), and atashi (Female) speaking women was strikingly few. There are little sex differences Sex Exclusive Sentence Patterns with other sex exclusive particles such as the sentence final particle zo and ze. Both men and women  1. Imperatives: Direct tend to avoid using rough particles commands with the verb in in a normal context. Almost all imperative form (Male) (e.g., kaere! tokens of ‘male’ particles were in ‘Go away!, damare! ‘Shut up!’) joking or quoted expressions. (128-  2. Negative imperatives: 9) Direct commands with the verb in

the plain form followed by the Shibuya also points out a potential sentence final particle na (Male) reason for the proliferation of gendered (e.g., sawaru na! ‘Don’t touch!, language even in translated foreign works: warauna! ‘Don’t laugh!’) “When a female character’s lines are  3. Declaratives: Sentences translated into ‘male speech’, the audience ending with da (Male) (e.g., kono regards the character as ‘markedly iro wa iya da. ‘I don’t like this defeminized’ and conversely, male color’) [the feminine equivalent is The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 200

deletion or replacement with speech uninterrupted by another character, declarative extended predicate “(na) regardless of overall length). I noted down no”] all conversational turns uttered by women  4. Interrogative sentence: in direct style over the course of the The verb or adjective in the plain examined movies, including those by form (or a noun) followed by the incidental female speaking roles not question marker particle ka. included in the character selection criteria (Henceforth ‘blunt question’) outlined above, in order to provide holistic (Male) (e.g., taberu ka? ‘Do you numbers useful for comparison of the want to eat?’, honto ka? ‘Is that works themselves alongside the more true?’) character-specific data points. The quantitative analysis includes the The above feature breakdown will be following gendered language markers: 1. utilized in my own analysis outlined in the Use of sentence-final wa; 2. Use of following parts. imperfective declarative (na) no, i.e. an As stated above, I decided to extended predicate construction that analyze direct-style utterances by female avoids the copula da, which is considered characters in translated American a male-exclusive sentence pattern due to superhero movies. I chose this particular its definite nuance; 3. Use of lexemes, genre as it features women who could not morphemes, and sentence patterns be further in character from the “good wife identified as male-exclusive (i.e. the and wise mother” (ryōsai kenbo) gender- aforementioned imperfective da in essentialist ideology included in the Meiji declaratives and imperatives). An civil code, which Inoue identifies as being accompanying qualitative assessment will part of the topic complex to which take Shibuya’s other outlined gendered gendered speech also belongs (28). Instead speech patterns (i.e. pronoun usage and the of being defined by their attachment to form of direct-style interrogatives) into men and their skills in the domestic sphere, account, and describe the overall linguistic these female characters occupy the roles of environment present in the movie (e.g. paramilitary officers, spies, assassins, and utterance forms by male characters, vigilantes; they were often trained for politeness structures, as well as other these tasks from childhood, and are shown potentially relevant factors). The goal of doing away with their opponents without this analysis is to come to a conclusion as hesitation, much like the female police to what factors, if any, govern differences officer in RoboCop Nornes cited. In the in gendered language use between the spirit of providing a complete picture, I three analyzed movies, and provide a also included female supporting characters starting point for more comprehensive with a more conventionally feminine study in the future. personality profile for comparison. My The following three movies, released criteria for data selection were as follows: theatrically between 2004 and 2012, were The female character had to have more taken into consideration: than five direct-style conversational turns over the course of the movie (with one 1. Hellboy (2004). According to the conversational turn being defined as Internet Movie Database, this movie The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 201

premiered in the USA on March 30, 2004, prior to that point; this team defends Earth and was shown in Japanese theatres from against an alien invasion (“Avengers”). October 1, 2004 on. It was based on a Box Office Mojo lists its production budget series of comic books by Mike Mignola as $220 million, and its worldwide gross published by Dark Horse Comics, in which as $1,518,594,910; it was the highest- the demon-like eponymous protagonist, grossing movie of 2012, and is the third- who arrived from a hellish parallel highest grossing movie of all time. dimension as an infant and was raised by humans, investigates supernatural In the following section, I will first phenomena in the employ of a secret introduce the female characters matching government department (“Hellboy the selection criteria I outlined above, [IMDb]”). Box Office Mojo lists its utilizing their lines uttered in the movies to production budget as $66 million, and its provide characterization. As this study worldwide gross as $99,318,987. focuses exclusively on their presentation in 2. Kick-Ass (2010). Released on the respective movie properties, further March 12, 2010 in the USA and on background information given in the December 18, 2010 in Japan, this is the comics will not be included. I will then only film out of the three analyzed which provide quantitative and qualitative has been rated R/R15+ due to brutal analyses of their utterances. violence, pervasive language, and drug use Hellboy features two named female by minors, among other things (“Kick-Ass characters with more than five turns of [IMDb]”). This movie is based on a comic direct-style dialogue, one of whom by Mark Millar and John Romita jr. receives top billing on the movie poster as published by Marvel’s Icon branch, which the deuteragonist of the narrative, and was created in 2004 and deals exclusively utters the majority of analyzed lines. Liz in creator-owned properties (“Icon”). The Sherman is an on-again, off-again member story takes a deconstructivist approach to of the BPRD (“Bureau for Paranormal superhero mythology by depicting comic Research and Defense,” the secret book fans assuming superhero identities, government organization with which the notably without possessing any powers, title character is also affiliated); she states and, in some cases, even lacking combat at time index 57:44 that she has quit the training (“Kick-Ass”). Box Office Mojo Bureau 13 times so far upon a new affiliate lists its production budget as $30 million, inviting her back. Her background is and its worldwide gross as $96,188,903. summarized in an interview video playing 3. The Avengers (2012), also known between time indices 52:00 and 55:00, in as Marvel’s The Avengers, was released on which she relates that her pyrokinetic May 4, 2012 in the USA, and on August powers are directly connected to her 14, 2012 in Japan (“Avengers”). By far the emotions, and that, in her case, “exploding most high-profile one of the three movies, with anger” is not just an expression. it showcased the formation of a superhero Shortly before this scene, she tells Hellboy, team consisting of a number of Marvel who has been romantically interested in characters long established in their her since before the start of the movie and respective own comic series, who also had visits the mental hospital where she appeared in their own eponymous movies voluntarily stays, that she is finally The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 202

learning to control her ability (time index describe her, finishing her utterances with 47:45). At the end of the movie, she and iya da (“I hate it”). The sub chooses to use the protagonist become a couple. suki ja nai (“I don’t like it”). The latter is The second female character featuring closer to the original English utterance, but in Hellboy is Ilsa Hauptstein, a high- does not fit with the lip movements of the ranking German SS officer who was first instance; the second time, she is not involved in the experiment which on screen, but the dub translator originally summoned the title character to presumably chose to mirror her prior Earth. She is romantically affiliated with statement, as it is the shortest and most Grigori Rasputin, the primary antagonist, direct way to express the sentiment. The as becomes clear from her first utterance at third utterance, da naa, occurs after she is time index 4:23, in which she swears that convinced to return to the BPRD and she will always be by his side. She is in expresses that it is a good feeling to be charge whenever Rasputin is not present, outside; interestingly, it is mirrored in the as her frequent commands to other subs almost exactly, only that the characters (for example at time index conversational turn instead ends in da wa. 44:48) indicate. Please see the Table 1a-b As for Ilsa, her only instance of a below for the quantitative analysis of the feminine marker (i.e. declarative no) in the movie’s 52 lines which were uttered by dub occurs when she explains her and women in direct style, the lowest count of Rasputin’s plans to Hellboy after capturing the three movies observed. him and his entire group and threatening to Notably, Liz, in line with her sacrifice an unconscious Liz if he does not characterization being more feminine than comply. All of her instances of feminine Ilsa’s, displays a higher ratio of feminine utterance endings in the subtitles also gender markers than the latter, and occur in this scene, likely because five of conversely features fewer “male” markers her ten overall conversational turns occur according to Shibuya’s classification in this setting. Wa seems to occur in her mentioned above. Interestingly, Liz’s uses subtitles primarily with declarations which of wa barely overlap in sub and dub, as do not necessitate an explanatory nuance. one would expect in at least the seven Both dub track and subtitles largely cases in which she utters the feminine avoid “male” speech markers used by sentence particle in the dub; it only occurs women; direct style questions featuring synchronously in three instances. Ilsa’s question marker ka are completely absent; dubbed speech, meanwhile, is almost questions are either indicated with no with completely devoid of feminine markers, rising intonation, or are intonation-marked but in turn features an unmitigated only. While Ilsa gets to use one direct imperative, which is replaced by a gerund imperative in the dub, two other instances form in the sub. Liz’s plain copulae occur in which she utters direct orders are in the video providing background on her mitigated by using a suffix-less verbal ability, in which she is presumably asked stem, once with affixed bikago prefix (Mō to explain it. In this context, it makes sense doki! in the dub at time index 44:09, with for her to be more definitive, particularly the subtitle resorting to Doite!; O-damari! in the context at hand: She states that she in the subs at time index 1:51:20, while hates the words which have been used to she says Yokei na koto! in the dub). The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 203

Notably, Liz uses gerunds in her order for ruthless in killing her opponents, and foul- one of her companions to hit her in the mouthed enough to be censored in her face in order to trigger her powers at time subtitles (one example of censorship with index 1:48:08, in spite of everyone in the circles instead of the implied characters room being in acute danger of perishing can be found at time index 39:00). within the next few seconds if she does not The second female character, Katie succeed. Deauxma, is a student of the same high Overall, it looks as if, in the case of school as the eponymous protagonist, Hellboy, the sub is more corrupt than the Kick-Ass/Dave Lizewski, who has the dub track, as it adheres more rigidly to locker next to his own (shown in the first gendered speech conventions: 1. Other ten minutes of the movie, and again from than in the dub, no forms deviating from time index 25:34, at which point she first the norms laid out by Shibuya occur; and 2. exchanges words with the main character). Ilsa, a very forceful character who could She initiates the conversation with Dave safely be described as “mannish” in by talking to him about comics, expressing demeanor, features feminine speech relatively stereotypical likes and dislikes in markers in the subtitles, albeit at a much her preferences – she enjoys shōjo manga lower ratio than Liz. Nevertheless, the and Scott Pilgrim, an American comic marker-to-line ratios in dub track and about a male primary character suddenly subtitles, when compared to the overall drawn into a world of magical realism in baseline, indicate that these two characters which he has to fight his girlfriend’s “evil are differentiated in their respective exes” (time index 34:08). She volunteers at linguistic gender expression. a drug clinic/needle exchange (34:32) and Kick-Ass, like Hellboy, features two lets Dave help her in applying bronzer named characters fitting the outlined after an implied visit to the tanning studio analysis criteria, with one of them being a after mistakenly believing he is gay top-billed deuteragonist. Hit-Girl, real (47:36). Once he finally disabuses her of name Mindy Macready, is a prepubescent that notion, they become a couple girl; her first scene in the movie features (1:11:57). This movie features 84 her father shooting her with a large-caliber conversational turns in direct style by gun in a vacant lot, training her to take the female characters; the quantitative impact while outfitted with a bulletproof breakdown can be found in the Table 2a-b vest (time index 12:05). Her character is below. further established in the following scene It is immediately apparent that taking place at a diner, where she first Mindy/Hit-Girl does not feature a single plays at being a regular little girl who instance of sentence-final wa in either dub wants a “doggie” (wan-chan) and a Bratz track or subtitles. This decision by the doll for her upcoming birthday, only to respective translators could be based in a make fun of her father for believing her act number of factors: 1. As the Matsugu and stating that she actually wants article cited above outlines, wa is a marker butterfly knives (time index 13:36). She not only broadcasting femininity, but displays knowledge of a variety of mature femininity. Shibuya agrees with weapons (time index 21:54) and, in her this assessment by providing an analysis guise as Hit-Girl, is both extremely from the opposite direction: She identifies The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 204

use of “boyish” speech in a commercial by imperative nasai; while this structure is a young wife towards her husband as fundamentally male in terms of genderized deliberate cuteness and coquettish speech patterns, and perhaps overly behavior, indexing herself as younger than familiar when used with people one is not she appears (46). Both of these close to (as for example pointed out in observations indicate that, as Hit-Girl is a Japanese: A Comprehensive Grammar on prepubescent child, her using wa would be page 494), it is less blunt than the unfitting. 2. Considering Hit-Girl’s explicit straightforward imperative form, i.e. rudeness and callous attitude, a marker godan verbal root + –e or ichidan verbal which is often described as denoting root + –ro. “gentleness” would be inappropriate. 3. On Katie, meanwhile, shows a more a more background-based note, the movie conventional gender patterning in her showcases her and her father’s “origin” utterance endings, even though her ratios story in a comic-like sequence, stating that are likewise all lower than Liz’s in Hellboy. her mother died shortly after her birth, she Notably, she displays more markers in the spent the first years of her life with a dub track than in the subs. Her only former male colleague of her father while instance of utilizing a male-indexed the latter sat in jail, and after his release, feature occurs at time index 1:15:42; in father and daughter mostly isolated this scene, she is on the phone with Dave themselves from the outside world when after having found out that he is not only not engaged in their vigilantism. As a not gay, but the person behind the mask of result, no female model would have been Kick-Ass. She has learned that, despite his available for her to acquire these features. promise to her, he has not yet given up on That is not to say that her utterances his superhero identity, and tells him, are completely devoid of feminine-indexed Shinpai da. Here, the definiteness of the markers; Hit-Girl utilizes atashi to refer to copula not only fits the situation, it may herself (e.g. at time index 12:05) and the have also been occasioned by lip disrespectful, but fundamentally female, movement requirements, as the subtitle at abbreviated second-person pronoun anta this juncture omits it, instead stating, to refer to Dave (e.g. at 41:28). Anata ga shinpai. Furthermore, even though the occurrence Overall, both dub track and subtitles ratio is low when compared to Liz in share two features with those present in Hellboy, she employs declarative no in Hellboy: 1. Direct style interrogatives place of an extended predicate featuring ka are completely avoided by construction featuring an imperfective female characters; questions are marked by copula, and deletes copulae at a high rate rising intonation, sometimes in in places where they could facultatively be conjunction with no, and 2. Straight-up inserted – in 58 conversational turns, only imperatives are absent; even Hit-Girl, who three instances of plain imperfective has no compunction addressing her grown copulae occur in the dub; the subtitles male opponents with kusare o-chinko- avoid them altogether. For imperative domo (sub)/kusobakayarou-domo (dub) purposes, she exclusively employs verbal (time index 39:00) always mitigates her stem/ren’yōkei + na, with the suffix orders by utilizing a form which shortens representing a rude shortening of honorific what was originally an honorific. Both of The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 205

these characters have a higher occurrence task (13:50-15:06). She indicates to Bruce ratio of wa and declarative no than the Banner during their first meeting that she overall baseline; this is due to the fact that has been trained as a spy from early incidental female characters such as the childhood (17:01), and gives an account of antagonist’s wife and Katie’s best friend her background and philosophy to barely contribute to the overall count in antagonist Loki in a bid to figure out his their shared seven lines. In this case, the plans: Prior to her affiliation with dub track translation seems to be the more S.H.I.E.L.D., she worked as a hired corrupt one at first glance, although it must assassin, renowned for her skills and be noted that a) overall incidence of unconcerned about the identity of her gender markers is very low in both employers (1:04:23). Originally a Russian subtitles and dub of this movie, and b) Hit- citizen, she states that she did not care who Girl’s overt instances of female sentence hired her as she was used to regimes patterns (exclusively declarative no in changing daily (1:05:03). The only factor place of copulae) in the dub are which motivates her to act out of personal counterbalanced by the exact same amount considerations is her “ledger,” i.e. a track of male utterance endings. Once again, a record of whom she owes favors; she difference in linguistic gendering pretends to only be interested in finding depending on the character is clearly out Clint Barton’s/Hawkeye’s whereabouts visible in the marker to line ratios. and convincing Loki to release her Finally, Avengers features three female colleague from his control, as she owes characters exceeding five direct style him her life (1:05:13). Although she conversational turns in the course of the pretends to be emotionally affected by film, one of them receiving top billing and Loki’s subsequent tirade, she immediately arguably representing one of the disengages to pass on the information she protagonists of this ensemble movie, as has gained from him as soon as she has she has roughly the same amount of screen goaded him into giving it up, indicating time as her male counterparts and is that she may be even more calculating than integral to the resolution of the movie’s her prior words to the antagonist already conflict. imply (1:06:49). Natasha Romanoff, code name Black Pepper Potts is the love interest of Widow, is a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Tony Stark/Iron Man; their relationship (“Strategic Homeland Intervention, was established in a previous movie of the Enforcement and Logistics Division;” a Marvel timeline, Iron Man 2. In Avengers, paramilitary organization with affiliations she is shown in a five-minute segment with the UN as well as the American during which Stark is ultimately recruited government, responding to an international into the Avengers Initiative; it is made council of regents only depicted in clear that she has taken part in planning shadows, as shown for example at time and executing Stark’s bid to build a index 19:39); in her introductory scene, skyscraper run entirely on clean energy she is depicted feigning helplessness after (time indices 23:38-25:34). While having been captured by a Russian black obviously a capable professional, who market arms dealer, only to quickly disable manages to convince Stark to consider her captors after being recalled for another cooperation with S.H.I.E.L.D. after he The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 206

initially intends to refuse (26:08-27:20), This would indicate that Black Widow is she is primarily depicted as the partner of indexed as more feminine than Pepper, one of the male protagonists here, rather although her stated character attributes than as a more independent agent like in would contraindicate this. Black Widow’s the Iron Man series of films. single instance of a “male” marker, which Maria Hill, who features in scenes is mitigated by not being used in from the very beginning of the movie, is contemporary spoken Japanese outside of second-in-command aboard the fixed expressions, no less, does not S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, taking charge of it sufficiently counteract the other ratios to in the absence of Director Nick Fury and explain this discrepancy from previously answering only to him. As most of her established expectations based on the exchanges occur with Fury, she primarily results of the movies analyzed above. uses distal style speech and therefore has In a comparison of all female few utterances which factor into this characters analyzed so far, Black Widow analysis; nevertheless, these six does have a relatively low occurrence ratio conversational turns are of interest, as they of wa in the dub: Liz’s is 0.175 and occur primarily between her and the male Katie’s is 0.137, compared to her 0.078; protagonists, one of whom is not strictly only Ilsa and Hit-Girl have a lower ratio at speaking part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. chain of 0. In the subtitles, she outdoes Katie command. Avengers is the longest of the (0.065 vs. 0.034), but is overshadowed by three analyzed works, and features the Ilsa (0.3) and Liz (0.378); Hit-Girl once most overall direct-style utterances by again presents zero occurrences. On the female characters. Quantitatively, the other hand, her occurrence ratios of occurrence of gendered speech markers is declarative no are far higher when broken down in Table 3a-b. measured with the other characters; she Like the other two analyzed works, only uses insignificantly fewer instances of Avengers avoids plain style interrogatives this marker than Katie in the dub (Black with ka, as well as the use of plain Widow 0.237, Katie 0.241), and is imperfective copulae or direct imperatives otherwise only outdone by Liz. In the uttered by female speakers. However, subtitles, occurrence of no is once again aside from these commonalities, the results only more prevalent in Liz’s lines. Here, for this movie are interesting in a number too, the comparative data indicates that of regards. First of all, Black Widow’s wa Black Widow is a more female-indexed occurrence is slightly higher than baseline character on average than any character in both dub track and subtitles, whereas but Liz. Pepper Potts, who is shown exclusively in Finally, the strongest imperative a semi-domestic setting, has a higher uttered by Black Widow uttered in the dub occurrence of sentence-final wa in the dub track, when the written-style/somewhat track, but one which is lower than Black archaic seyo appears in the subtitles (time Widow’s and on par with the baseline in index 41:36), consists of verbal stem + the subs. Meanwhile, Black Widow’s nasai, a construction the third volume of usage of declarative no is well above Japanese: The spoken language defines as general occurrence rate, while Pepper’s is occurring “most commonly in addressing far lower (and nonexistent in the subtitles). children, close relatives, subordinates, The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 207

subordinates, service personnel, and so forms. In Kick-Ass, only the primary forth” (171). The honorific component antagonist produces a significant amount inherent in nasaru seems to indicate that, of hyper-masculine forms, and the number while such a grammatical construct clearly of named male characters with consistent indicates an order, it just as obviously speaking roles is far lower overall. In both reads as far above the plain imperative in of these movies, other criteria than terms of politeness and “gentleness,” compensatory usage are therefore likely at particularly as it is frequently uttered by work. Meanwhile, Black Widow is the mothers to their children. However, the only female member of a team of six, and scene in which it occurs in Avengers does among her five male associates, three not call for this level of imperative (namely Stark/Iron Man, Thor, and Barton) mitigation: Black Widow is piloting a frequently use strongly male-indexed heavily-armed fighter jet, and is telling forms. Add the fact that even in the Loki, the primary antagonist of the English original, Loki, who also favors narrative, to surrender. One of her fellow highly masculine speech, hurls a gendered Avengers operatives is on the ground insult at her at time index 1:05:40 (which providing backup, another is on his way, is preserved in differing, but still strongly and she is aware that Loki controls her gendered terms in both subtitles and dub colleague Barton, whom she seeks to set track), and a potential origin of her free. It is not even possible to explain the comparatively high occurrence of female mitigated imperative by a need to conform markers becomes apparent: Her femininity to the original lip movements in the dub is utilized to counterbalance the abundance track, as this line is uttered while an of “male” utterances, particularly since the exterior shot of the jet is shown, with female characters with the second- and Black Widow’s voice being broadcast by third-highest utterance count feature in far speakers. fewer scenes, and either speak in an What factors, then, may be at work in environment where fewer men are present the counterintuitive degree of linguistic (Pepper), or primarily use distal style gendering this character displays? The (Hill). only potential answer which comes to Maria Hill, when speaking plain style, mind is the environment in which Black does not present any overt feminine Widow speaks, namely the sheer number markers; in fact, she produces an apparent of male characters with whom she outlier value in the ratios listed above, as interacts, and their strong masculine she has the highest incidence of “male” gender-indexing. In Hellboy, Liz’s only markers of any female character analyzed interlocutor producing extremely male in her dub track. However, it must be sentence particles such as zo and ze pointed out that this number is, in fact, alongside a number of other “male speech” likely not indicative of a conscious features is the protagonist; her other BPRD gendering effort, but predicated by lip colleagues either produce distal style or synching requirements: the sole utterance almost lack male markers compared to of da in the beginning of the movie (time Hellboy, and the leader of the bureau, the index 8:10), which produces a high ratio Professor, functions as a wizened number due to her very low plain style grandfather figure and speaks in archaic utterance count, occurs in a surprised The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 208

inquiry as to the identity of Loki, who had 1. Translator preference - as no just appeared in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base and translator names are given in the movie or is about to leave with Barton and their DVD credits, this possibility cannot be scientific advisor, and her mouth controlled for, although considering the movements are clearly visible. The existence of “grammars” for subtitling, subtitles render the line, which is produced and the proposed normativity of gendered as Dare da?, as Sono hito, dare? Still, the language in scripted fictional materials by fact that Hill produces this unmarked Saito and Shibuya, this should not be a copula in the place of other potential forms major reason for the displayed for “Who is that?” (for example a discrepancies. Arguments as to the contracted/abbreviated distal version such necessity for feminine speech usage in dub as Dare ‘su ka – the line is uttered very tracks to fit lip movements are also quickly and the scene features a lot of spurious at best, as they even occur when camera movement, so that such a the character’s mouth movements are not replacement would have been possible visible, and are often uttered so quickly without producing a visible mismatch with that leaving them out or replacing them her lip movements), and that she later with a different marker would not make a answers an inquiry by Stark with an discernible difference. utterance featuring a plain style verbal 2. Character type – Liz’ powers are with no sentence particles in the dub track based on emotion, while Hit-Girl and (time index 54:24), may, in fact, indicate a Black Widow are trained assassins without conscious absence of gendering in her case, special abilities. Additionally, Liz is the although her turn sample is too small to only female lead in a relationship make this call. developing in the course of the plot (in As the above analysis shows, the comparison, Ilsa and Rasputin and Pepper linguistic gendering of female characters and Stark are already established couples, not indexed as traditionally feminine in the other female characters are not Japanese translations from originally non- depicted in a relationship. Katie is the only gender-marking language sources, which female character observed who does not fit Nornes observed in the subtitles of the pattern, which might, however, be RoboCop, remains a contemporary related to the following point). phenomenon. This is likely due to native 3. Character age – Hit-Girl has more speakers’ conceptualized understanding of leeway to forgo feminine speech as she is gendered language observed by Shibuya, still a child (Saito [on pages 44-5] and in which adult women who communicate Shibuya [on page 266] both point out that in plain style devoid of feminine markers young girls sometimes exhibit male speech are seen as “defeminized” (130). features, going so far as to use boku for Nevertheless, it seems that there is a self-reference, but stop after reaching difference in degree of linguistic gendering maturity unless they are deliberately between the analyzed characters, which attempting to engage in coquetry. may be attributable to the following Likewise, Matsugu points to feminine factors: markers indicating mature femininity [198]). The same factors might apply to

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 209

Katie, who, after all, is also still a high consideration of character stats such as age, school student. (non)conformity to the “middle-class 4. Speaking role gender ratio and urban housewife” type at the heart of the overall speech modes present (i.e., female definition of women’s speech (i.e. marital gendering fulfills a compensatory status, living circumstances, relative function). As outlined in the above income/wealth if discernible, presence or comparative analysis of Black Widow’s absence of children, depiction of the utterances vis-à-vis those of the other female character engaging in household examined characters, her linguistic chores or nurturing activities/traditionally expression in an environment abundant “male” activities such as front line combat with strong masculine markers may be or heavy industrial work, etc.), and the more densely feminine-marked in order to environment in which they speak (i.e. the provide balance, particularly since she is gender ratio present in the narrative, the the only female protagonist in a group of number and ratio of male vs. female six. Black Widow’s character profile conversational turns, the relative seems to be superseded by this hierarchical positions of the male and compensatory effort. female characters to each other, and the incidence of gendered forms produced by Considering that studies on the use of all characters both male and female). feminine language markers in works 3. Introducing a temporal factor in translated into Japanese have primarily order to unearth predictive tendencies. been considered under the aegis of their Compared to the three movies analyzed disconnect from the way people speak in above, what gender ratios occur in the real life, and that even Shibuya, who has Superman movies released in the 1980s? produced one of the most comprehensive This is merely one possible example; of studies on the subject, limits her analysis course, this approach could be taken in any of scripted narratives to general statements one genre. of marker prevalence and absence in different forms of fictional works (i.e. I would like to close with Rika movies, novels, etc.), the following steps Saito’s prediction on the future of could be taken to expand this preliminary women’s speech, which, depending on study in the future: one’s opinion on this complex 1. Broadening the analysis to include sociolinguistic phenomenon, can be different genres, and/or movies marketed regarded as either comforting or towards different target demographics – all discouraging: movies analyzed for this study are part of a highly specific genre, which is targeted Indeed, is stereotypical women’s towards young males. How would gender- speech destined to vanish in the indexing differ in a genre geared towards future? It is unlikely. Deviant language use of younger women is young women, or middle-aged populations? targeted for correction, that is How would different genres compare in modeling the ideal women’s their occurrence of gender markers? speech. Women would produce and 2. Compiling more data extracted reproduce their own language by from movies in the same genre, under both conforming to and deviating The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 210

from the commonly circulated “Kick-Ass (2010) – Box Office Mojo.” model of speech. In this sense, Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. women’s speech as an imagined 15 Dec. 2014. model of speech will not disappear “Kick-Ass (2010) - IMDb.” Internet Movie and will function to check the actual language use of women. Database. Amazon.com, n.d. Web. 15 (283) Dec. 2014. Kikku-Asu. Dir. Matthew Vaughn. Perf. Works Cited Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz. Toho, 2011. DVD. Abenjaazu. Dir. Joss Whedon. Perf. Robert “Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) – Box Downey Jr. and Chris Evans. Walt Office Mojo.” Box Office Mojo. Disney Japan Kabushikigaisha, 2013. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. DVD. Matsugu, Yuka. “The Power of Feminiity: “Avengers (2012) - IMDb.” Internet Can Japanese Gender Variation Movie Database. Amazon.com, n.d. Signify Contradictory Social Web. 15 Dec. 2014. Meanings?” Style Shifting in Japanese. “Hellboy (2004) – Box Office Mojo.” Box Ed. Kimberly Jones and Tsuyoshi Ono. Office Mojo. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 15 Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub., Dec. 2014. 2008. 185-212. Print. “Hellboy (2004) - IMDb.” Internet Movie Nornes, Markus. Cinema Babel: Database. Amazon.com, n.d. Web. 15 Translating Global Cinema. Dec. 2014. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2007. Herubooi. Dir. Guillermo Del Toro. Perf. Print. Ron Perlman and Selma Blair. Sony Saito, Rika. Building and Maintaining Pictures Entertainment, 2009. DVD. Women’s Speech: Covert Language “Icon Comics (Publisher) - Comic Vine.” Policy and Gender Construction in Comic Vine. CBS Interactive, Inc., n.d. Japan. Diss. U of Pennsylvania, 2005. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest ILC, 2005. Inoue, Miyako. Vicarious Language: ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Gender and Linguistic Modernity in Web. 03 Dec. 2014. Japan. Berkeley, CA: U of California, Shibuya, Rinko. A Synchronic and 2006. Print. Diachronic Study on Sex Exclusive Jorden, Eleanor Harz, and Mari Noda. Differences in the Modem Japanese Japanese, the Spoken Language. Vol. Language. Diss. U of California L.A., 3. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990. Print. 2004. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest ILC, Kaiser, Stefan, Yasuko Ichikawa, and 2004. ProQuest Dissertations and Noriko Kobayashi. Japanese: A Theses. Web. 03 Dec. 2014. Comprehensive Grammar. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2013. Print.

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 211

Table 1a.

Character Sentence final Declarative no Features defined as “male” (Line count) wa (dub/sub) (dub/sub) used by female characters (dub/sub) Overall (52) 7/18 14/7 4/0 Liz (40) 7/15 13/5 3/0 (da x2, da naa x1) Ilsa (10) 0/3 1/2 1/0 (imperative shiro)

Table 1b: Utterance per line count ratio.

Character wa Declarative no “Male” features Overall Dub=0.135/Sub=0.346 Dub=0.269/Sub=0.134 Dub=0.08/Sub=0 Liz Dub=0.175/Sub=0.375 Dub=0.325/Sub=0.125 Dub=0.075/Sub=0 Ilsa Dub=0/Sub=0.3 Dub=0.1/Sub=0.2 Dub=0.1/Sub=0

Table 2a.

Character Sentence final Declarative Features defined as “male” used (Line count) wa (dub/sub) no (dub/sub) by female characters (dub/sub) Overall (84) 4/2 13/5 7/2 Mindy/Hit-Girl (48) 0/0 5/3 5/1 (dub: RY+na imp. x2, “da” x3; sub: RY+na imp.) Katie (29) 4/1 7/2 1/0 (“da”)

Table 2b: Utterance per line count ratio.

Character wa Declarative no “Male” features Overall Dub=0.048/Sub=0.024 Dub=0.155/Sub=0.06 Dub=0.083/Sub=0.024 Mindy/Hit-Girl Dub=0/Sub=0 Dub=0.104/Sub=0.063 Dub=0.104/Sub=0.021 Katie Dub=0.138/Sub=0.034 Dub=0.241/Sub=0.069 Dub=0.034/Sub=0

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 212

Table 3a.

Character Sentence final Declarative Features defined as “male” used (Line count) wa (dub/sub) no (dub/sub) by female characters (dub/sub) Overall (102) 8/6 20/8 1/1 Black Widow (76) 6/5 18/8 0/1 (archaic/written style imp. seyo) Pepper (17) 2/1 2/0 0/0 Hill (6) 0/0 0/0 1/0 (da)

Table 3b: Utterance per line count ratio.

Character wa Declarative no “Male” features Overall Dub=0.078/Sub=0.059 Dub=0.196/Sub=0.078 Dub=0.01/Sub=0.01 Black Widow Dub=0.079/Sub=0.066 Dub=0.237/Sub=0.105 Dub=0/Sub=0.013 Pepper Dub=0.118/Sub=0.059 Dub=0.118/Sub=0 Dub=0/Sub=0 Hill Dub=0/Sub=0 Dub=0/Sub=0 Dub=0.167/Sub=0

The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 3, No. 1, August 2017 213