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Foreignisation Part II: Writing the Outside out Sean Mahoney

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Foreignisation Part II: Writing the Outside out Sean Mahoney Article Foreignisation Part II: Writing the Outside Out Sean Mahoney ・Thefore1gnercomeslnwhenthe consciousnessof mydiffe「once arises and he disappears when we all acknowledge Ou「Selves as foreigners,unamenableto bondsand communities. _ a s,pi Abstract: Authorities In Japan well_known for meticulous reCO「ding Of detail and strict adherence to registration procedures haVe.oVe「 the yea「S;been dubbed xenophobic by observers. Such comments resound pa「tiCula「ly Intensely of course in discussions of Japan's plethora Of Policies fo「 dealing with jnternatjonal issues. The requi「ed P「OCeSS of WO「king through the labyrjnth of rules and regulations fo「 Conducting business, engaging In new employment,or even finding living accommodations has daunted and indeed prevented many from both onto「ing and Staying in this country Despite constant governmental proposals and p「Og「ammeS designed to enhance “internationalisation,” the pace Of 「eat Change iS somehow kept in the range of extremely slow to non-existent,With the results of various initiatives almost invariably proving SuPe「fiCia1 in society at large. I offer that at least one habit of foreignisation',that Which involves - 57 -- 1 行政社会論集 第12巻 第1号 the written demarcation of “native'' and ''foreign'' words in modern Japanese, is at least partly responsible for reinforcing xenophobic patterns of communication and conduct. While scholars in early Japan surely regarded the Chinese works they translated as “foreign,''concrete guidelines through which usage of the hiragana and katakana syllabaries prescribe and label (allegedly) native and foreign words have only re_ Cently been given official sanction. I should like to introduce the origins and progressions of these new guidelines for written Japanese;as they Changed the language from that which had not necessarily distinguished between “Japanese'(and Chinese)words and loanwords to one which does I Suggest that discontinuance of this practice, through relaxing rules and allowing hiragana, katakana; and kanji (Chinese characters) to be used more interchangeably (as they indeed once were), may help eliminate psychological barriers which impede the construction of a more international society. Rationale: WO「d Choice,or hoωsomething is said ultimately determines ulhat is Said,and writers face innumerable decisions regarding word choice when 「ePorting even the most uncomplicated events;alteration of but ene word in a Sentence can produce a dramatically different effect. An army ]abelied ''freedom fighters,';for example,would be more likely to gain readers' sympathies than “the guerrillas,'' (homonyms aside) as the latter,both ''guerri1]as” and “the,''carry strong biases and render the g「cup strange. In reporting events of an international nature,choice of expression in speech and writing is particularly consequential. Moreover,in writing,the tagging of any word as native or non_native 一58 - 2 Forejgnjsatjon Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean MahOney) to the language leaves an indelible impression on the reader. Though ears may get used to the “foreign''sound of a new name,and mouths may become familiar with making new sounds, the present W「iting system in Japan never forgets or accepts foreignness. Children may be surprised when they (inevitably) find out that certain familiar WO「dS, even those as intimate as “mama''and “papa,” are from the “outside,' and should be written accordingly in katakana only. while words new to English,for example,may be written in italics until they become accepted into the language,those in modern Japanese are permanently labelled “foreign f' Words believed to have been borrowed from any language other than Chinese are most often W「itten in the segregating katakana script,which represents the same Phonemes as the standard syllabary,hiragana, Furthermore,in the mass media and in all public paperwork,most non-Japanese names are also W「itten in katakana Even if the names already consist of Chinese Cha「acto「S (e.g. chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese names), katakana (and not hjragana)is used either solely or in conjunction with these Cha「aCte「S to indicate the Japanese pronunciation of them_ Names of Japanese nationals,however,enjoy an exclusive right to be rendered in hiragana。 Even the names of descendants of Japanese nationals, fo「 example president Fujjmorj of Peru, are commonly written in katakana Only・ This practice of foreignisation often becomes even more pronounced.2 In a recent article printed in the Japan Times for example,Duncan Flett notes that Japanese words spoken by non-Japanese people on television are regularly represented in katakana rather than in the usual combina- tjonof Chinese characters and hiragana.Flett continues: - 59 - 3 行政社会論集 第12巻 第1号 What disturbs me about this trend is what it says to the Japanese about non-Japanese learning this country's language. Subtitling in katakana serves to promote the myth that Japanese spoken by non_ Japanese is “different,''and deserves to be distinguished from that of native speakers. (Tnnes p.18) Since Flett's article,and perhaps in part due fe lt,this practice is gradually fading. But a glance at almost any restaurant menu wi11 confirm that an established system of foreignisation still exists at other everyday levels. Take the “Teriyaki MacBurger," for example_ This recent invention combines and yet keeps separate “Japanese' and “American'' food; the word “teriyaki makkubaagaa” is deliberately written on a]1 MacDonald's menues with ''teriyaki'' in hiragana and makkubaagaa'' in katakana. Hiragana marks the Japanese, and katakana the “other''(here,English). To write ''teriyaki'in katakana would be to foreignise a traditional food, and to write “baagaa'; in hiragana would be almost revolutionary. Even the English_Japanese word “poteto furai,''created in Japan and used only in Japan to mean “french fries,''is written in katakana only,and is mistakenly believed by many tobeof English origin. When paired with ''foreign''words on menues,however,as in side_ dish options like “bread or rice,''other conventions come into play. For example,when the presumably-native Japanese word ''gohan” (rice),is paired with 'pan''(bread)(a word actually from Portuguese but generally considered English),it always becomes raisu (“rice''in katakana). One may speculate that this habit derives from a desire to keep the set in a uniform script-here,katakana. But why nmst the native gohan be - 60 - 4 Forejgnjsatjon Part II:Writing the Outside Out (Sean Mahoney) dropped? why can it not influence the borrowed word Such that both may be written in hjragana? Does this imply that when the“fo「eign and the''native”mix,any result must be rendered “fo「elgn ? close examination of the hjragana = Japanese, katakana = fo「eign convention does however reveal exceptions. The largest Of these iS Of course the often_unrealised fact that the majority of WO「dS W「itten in combinations of hiragana and Chinese characters we「e bo「「Owed f「Om chinese In addition words that had been impo「ted long ago (e・g・ tobacco” borrowed from the Portuguese in the early EdOPe「iOd),and for which people have only a slight perception of the fact that they We「e borrowed,may also be written in hiragana (Nihongo 365)- Another exception,found particularly in comics but alSOelSeWhe「e, Involves “native words'rendered in katakana for emphasis. In Pa「tiCula「, onomatopoetic Japanese words usually appear in katakana,unless they represent smooth,calm,or unagitated actions or sounds (in Which Case hjragana is used.as in “sara_sara''- the sound of smooth WTiting,o「 Of a babbling brook) This tendency promulgates an implicit 「elatiOnShiP between expressions and instances of force,roughness,and even Violence, and their representative script:katakana。 Hence,With 「ega「d to Comics, h1ragana appears to be reserved not only (as previously mentioned)fo「 things “Japanese but also for writing about the mo「e Peaceful aspects Of experience Katakana,by contrast;has come to represent the fo「eign,the feared,and the unknown. Both h1ragana and katakana derive from kanji (ChineSe Cha「acto「S), and only in the Middle Ages evolved and were divided into two distinct - 61 - 5 行政社会論集 第12巻 第1号 systems. Though a consciousness of what was “foreign” and “native'' was undoubtedly present when scholars translated Chinese writings (i.e. they knew Chinese texts were not from Japan),imported words were, until the early 1900's,a]1 written in kanji,as of course were the bulk of Japanese words and Chinese loans. Hiragana and katakana, or “manyougana''their precursor,were the simplified tom s of kanji whose readings could be assumed known3. Manyougana were written beside Chinese texts as shorthand to help one read Chinese characters according to Japanese pronunciation;but readers of course needed to learn these shorthand just as today's children need to learn hiragana and katakana. Among the educated elite,knowledge and usage of Chinese characters, or slightly-altered Japanese variants thereof, assumed paramount importance. Over time,the rate at which new character combinations and read_ ings had to be created and memorised to absorb the influx of Western_ language loanwords,however,proved increasingly troublesome,and the issue remained unsettled for some time. Meanwhile,manyougana had long since split into the more cursive hiragana and the simpler,more standardised katakana. Children were,unfil l947,taught katakana first at schools,and most news items and other publications employed kanji and katakana.4 Hiragana had always been used in shodo (cat]igraphy) and poetry;but written
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