Dalarna University's logo and link to the university's website

近年のCALLに関する研究において、オンラインツールを外国語学習に利用することにより、「真正な」異文化環境が築けることが実証されている。過去の研究は母語話者と非母語話者間の交流を対象にしたものが主であったが、本研究では非母語話者同士の日本語を媒体としたテレコラボレーションを通して、学生のアイデンティティーがどのように構築されていくのかに焦点をあてる。

異なったL1背景を持つ２つの日本語学習者グループの非同期記述式（ブログ）と同期口述式（オンラインディスカッション）コミュニケーション活動から得たデータをHoughton (2012)の異文化間対話モデル ( IDモデル) を枠組みとし、分析を行った。IDモデルは 以下の5段階から構成される：1) 自己分析; 2) 他者の分析; 3) 自己と他者の価値の類似性（または差異）の批判的分析; 4) 自己と他者の価値について特定の基準を参照した批判的評価; 5) アイデンティティーの構築。

分析結果は、学生の選択する単語ひとつひとつが自身のイメージ又は他者に見られたい自分のイメージを形成すると同時に、自身のアイデンティティーへの理解を深めることに繋がっていることを示唆している。またIDモデルにおいても、1)に先立って「自己についての認識なし」という新たな段階の存在が見受けられた。更に1)の自己認識は、1-a) 単独アイデンティティーの認識、1-b) 複数のアイデンティティーの認識、の二つのサブステージを踏んで展開していくことも分かった。データによると、4)においても複数の学生がそれぞれ違った自己と他者に関する批判的評価をしていた。それは既存のアイデンティティー構築モデルが対応していない、自文化の基準と日本の文化基準の混在によるものと考えられる。つまり、異なるL1背景を持つ非母語話者同士の交流の多文化的性質はアイデンティティーの構築をより促進すると言えるだろう。また、本発表では、テレコラボレーションのマルチモーダル分析の可能性についても言及する。

Recent studies of Computer-assisted language learning (CALL) demonstrate that authentic intercultural contexts can be achieved by the use of online tools so as to enhance students’ foreign language learning and identity development. While previous research on telecollaboration and identity has mainly focused on NS-NNS interactions, this study investigates various stages of identity construction through NNS-NNS telecollaborative interactions using Japanese as lingua franca. 

The study (which was conducted together with a researcher in the U.S.) examines two sets of NNSs with different L1 backgrounds, namely NNSs of Japanese from universities in the US and Sweden. The project combines telecollaborative activities consisting of both asynchronous written (blogs) and synchronous verbal (online discussions) communication.

The Intercultural Dialogue (ID) model (Houghton, 2012) was used to evaluate the outcome. The model consists of five stages: 1) Analysis of Self; 2) Analysis of Other; 3) Critical analysis of value similarities (or differences) between Self and Other; 4) Critical evaluation of the values of Self and Other relative to a standard; and 5) Identity development.

Our findings indicate that through their written and oral discussions in Japanese, the students’ choice of words constructed images of the person they are or wished to be perceived as while building an understanding of their own identities. This shows that language use does not necessarily reflect who one is but is used to contribute to the construction of one’s identities. It was also observed that there exists a stage prior to the first stage in the ID-model, namely a “no-awareness” stage. Furthermore, our findings indicate that Stage 1 “Awareness of Self” occurs as two sub-stages: 1-a) Awareness of single identity; and 1-b) Awareness of having multiple identities. Our data also suggest that at one point, several students were offering different critical evaluations of Self and Other as a result of their own and the Japanese cultural standard not fitting the standard identity development model, suggesting that the multicultural nature of NNS-NNS interactions involving different L1 backgrounds can accelerate identity development.

The potential and challenges of multimodal analysis of intercultural telecollaboration are also discussed.

While synchronous online telecollaboration has been gaining popularity in foreign language education over the past few decades, both Multimodal Communicative Competence and Intercultural Communicative Competence have become increasingly important as a result of many educational institutions, business establishments, and governmental organizations being forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to switch their means of communication to online video conferencing systems.

Although access to digital communication technology and tools allow more people to be part of intercultural communicative exchanges, it is suspected that a considerable amount of miscommunication is caused by mis- or non-understanding of the variety of modes used in synchronous digital communication due to differences in interlocutors’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds, which can affect verbal and prosodic elements such as speed, pitch, and intonation as well as non-verbal dimensions such as facial expressions, gaze, and gestures together with spatial aspects and the positioning of participants in the video frame.

Existing methods of multimodal analysis of digital communication often deal with monolingual situations. Even in cases of analysis of intercultural communication, at least one of the participating parties use their native language. 

The current study intends to fill the research gap seen in methodological issues concerning the analysis of multimodal, and (specifically) synchronous, digital intercultural communication when a non-native language is used by all participants as a lingua franca. To this end, methodological implications of multimodal analysis of synchronous digital intercultural interactions between Swedish and U.S. participants using Japanese as a lingua franca were explored, highlighting challenges that surfaced during the analysis of the data gathered for a separate study of identity development through online telecollaboration and focusing especially on the problems that may arise when a third language is used as means of communication between non-native speakers. 

There have been a number of studies dealing with the concepts of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism in primary, secondary and university education, especially in the European context, as plurilingual and intercultural education have long been promoted by the Council of Europe. However, little discussion of these two concepts has taken place in the context of adult education targeting employees in multinational workplaces. 

Due to the increasing number of companies purchased by or merged with a Japanese company in Sweden, the commissioned education course on “Communicating and Doing Business with the Japanese” I teach at our university has gained in popularity over the past several years. These multinational companies encourage managerial personnel to take such a course in the hope that they will learn the “Japanese way” of communication and conducting business. Despite their extensive experience living and working in other countries, with many of them capable of communicating in several languages at various proficiency levels, these learners often join the course with the expectation of molding themselves into something they are not. However, the course is designed to aid these learners in rethinking their identities as plurilingual- and pluricultural selves along with their roles in the multinational, multilingual company rather than learning to behave like Japanese business executives. This is implemented by first identifying their own plurilingualism and pluriculturalism of which they are initially unaware, followed by a critical analysis of the portrayal of how things are done the “Japanese way,” which is accomplished by exposing the learners to a variety of perspectives. A discussion of “culture” is also necessary as many of them consciously or unconsciously associate “culture” with “national culture.”

In this practical report, I will introduce the initiatives used in this commissioned education course to induce pluricultural thinking before results of the thematic analysis of follow-up interview data from former course participants are presented to show how they further developed plurilingual and pluricultural competence in their workplace over several years after the course ended. These testimonies make it evident that plurilingual and pluricultural awareness should be encouraged in adult education. 

Can Culture be Taught? 

Issues and Initiatives in Teaching a Course on Japanese Culture

While many universities offer Japanese Culture courses as part of their language programs, some of the materials and contents may promote stereotypes and essentialism. Although the definition of “culture” varies depending on field and context, students and teachers in foreign language classrooms commonly perceive culture unconsciously as national culture. Moreover, emphasizing cultural differences, a common practice in such courses, can also result in the formation of stereotypes. 

Many students taking courses on Japanese culture are initially fascinated by the surface culture and especially pop culture, including anime, manga, video games, and music as well as food, literature, and language. It is not uncommon for such students to have already formed specific stereotypes or images of Japan from the media they consume. 

This presentation will first introduce various ways of understanding culture. Using the course related to Japanese culture I teach at a European university as an example, various challenges and initiatives involved in discussing Japanese culture with students will be shared. Based on previous studies of teaching culture as part of foreign language instruction, my own practice as well as course evaluations by students, I will propose an optimal design for a culture course that does not promote essentialism from the following perspectives: (1) selection of teaching materials presenting various perspectives and encouraging critical thinking; (2) appropriate ordering of topics from deep- to surface-level culture; and (3) learners’ identities. Instead of defining what culture is, teachers can provide opportunities for questioning and discussing how culture is used and what people do with it while deepening students’ understanding not only of Japanese culture but also of the diverse culture that surrounds each student's daily life.

Contemporary workplaces are often characterized by diversity, involving participants from multiple linguistic and cultural traditions (e.g., Angouri, 2014). In such settings, participants draw on their rich cultural assumptions and values to co-construct meaning (e.g., Takamiya & Aida Niendorf, 2019), as language use and communication patterns have been found to be inextricably linked to different group belongings. While diversity enriches workplace interaction linguistically and culturally, it also presents “communicative challenges to many employers and co-workers” (Holmes, 2018, p. 335). These communicative challenges include increased likelihood of miscommunication, social exclusion (Lønsmann, 2014), and limited interpersonal communication (Tange & Lauring, 2009). While considerable research has been devoted to understanding intercultural workplaces communication, little research exists on the linguistically and culturally diverse Swedish workplace. To gain greater insights into how diversity may enrich workplace interaction and the communicative challenges employees may experience, this pilot study explores employees’ attitudes to and beliefs about intercultural communication in the Swedish workplace. The pilot study is part of a larger project on digital professional communication in multilingual workplaces in Sweden. Five employees in managerial positions in Swedish higher education and corporations were interviewed. We adopt a critical intercultural communication approach, seeing “culture” as a dynamic concept, which employees may attribute to self and others, and (dis-)align with in different ways. Findings show that: (a) language competence in English is seen as indexing general competence; (b) categorisations of cultures are prevalent: Participants often view culture as synonymous with nation and point at differences between groups as a challenge to achieve effective communication; (c) identity and face are foregrounded: Some participants feel like a different person when using a different language, while others see a specific language as a way to adopt a different persona or professional role; and (d) culture and language are used to explain group dynamics (e.g., feeling as an outsider or as part of the group), and as tools to actively integrate or exclude others. The material has raised our awareness about not seeing the workplace as a monolith, but workplaces may be marked by internal variation when it comes to intercultural communication. 

References   Angouri, J. (2014). Multilingualism in the workplace: Language practices in multicultural contexts. Multilingua 33, 1-9.     

Holmes, J. (2018). Intercultural communication in the workplace. In B. Vine (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language in the workplace (pp. 335-347). Routledge.    

Lønsmann, D. (2014). Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion. Multilingua 33, 89–116.    

Takamiya, Y. & Aida Niendorf, M. (2019). Identity (re)construction and improvement in intercultural competence through synchronous and asynchronous telecollaboration: Connecting Japanese language learners in the United States and Sweden. In Zimmerman, E. & McMeekin, A. (Eds.), Technology-supported learning in and out of the Japanese language classroom: Theoretical, empirical, and pedagogical developments (pp. 111-145). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.    

Tange, H., & Lauring, J. (2009). Language management and social interaction within the multilingual workplace. Journal of Communication Management 13(3), 218–232.     

This study explored the effects of the writing experiences of supervisors on undergraduate English language thesis supervision, specifically focusing on the Japanese and Swedish tertiary contexts where English medium instruction (EMI) is delivered to students whose first language is not English. Employing a Collaborative Autoethnographic (CAE) approach, three teacher-researchers working at universities in Japan and Sweden jointly co-constructed their narratives about their own literacy practices in the historical development of their writing and current thesis supervision. Findings demonstrated limited influences of the teachers’ personal experiences on their practices, with social and educational norms in each country emerging as more significant factors. Particularly, the teacher-centeredness and exam-orientation were observed by the Japan-based supervisors to affect Japanese students, whereas the more horizontal relationship between students and teachers in Swedish education was reported as impacting university students’ autonomy in thesis writing. We concluded that in both tertiary EMI contexts, local embedded educational norms largely influenced teachers' supervisory practices.

Contemporary workplaces are characterized by diversity, involving participants from multiple linguistic and cultural traditions. In such settings, translanguaging is considered a common practice in which multilinguals “create an apparently seamless flow between languages and language varieties and to transcend the boundaries between named languages and/or language varieties as well as the boundaries between language and other semiotic systems” (Hua et al., 2022, p. 315). Little research, however, exists on such practices in multilingual workplaces (Du & Zhou, 2022), and even less on the linguistically diverse Swedish workplace. To gain greater insight into the seamlessness, transcendence, and boundaries such language users create and perceive, we explore the communication practices of employees in different Swedish workplaces. As an initial departure point, five employees in managerial positions were interviewed in the pilot study. We adopt a critical intercultural communication approach, seeing “culture” as a dynamic concept, which employees may attribute to self and others, and (dis-)align with in different ways. Findings show that categorisations of languages are prevalent, with participants applying a scale of linguistic sophistication or complexity and ranking formality conventions on a strong-to-weak scale. When categorising people and groups, participants foreground identity and face, and group dynamics is a recurring theme, with distinctions made between groups and orientations. This presentation focuses on participants’ descriptions of L1 and L2 identities and their perceived effects on workplace communication. Findings suggest that translanguaging has yet to be commonplace in the workplaces we investigated and shed light on lay perspectives on (trans)languaging in the workplace.

References

Du, J., & Zhou, X. (2022). Translanguaging practices in Chinese/English bilingual engineers’ communications in the workplace. Applied Linguistics Review, 13(3), 389-402.

Hua, Z., Jones, R.H. & Jaworska, S. (2022). Acts of distinction at times of crisis: An epistemological challenge to intercultural communication research. Language and Intercultural Communication, 22(3), 312-323.

In this talk, we present a research project that we plan to launch in late 2023. The aim of the project is to investigate professional communication in video meetings, which is justified given their growing importance in the modern and post-pandemic workplace. The setting is workplaces in Sweden where English is used as a lingua franca, due to the increasing societal impact of multilingual workplaces. In the specific context of study, communication is embedded in several layers of complexity: It takes place in an institutional setting; it is digital and takes place in video mode; it is done across cultures and marked by diversity; and it is done partly in English as a lingua franca. The project focuses on internal communication within the workplace and does not consider external communication, for example involving customers. The overarching research question is: What factors contribute to (un)successful digital intercultural interactions in multilingual workplaces, specifically in video meetings? To map the characteristics of video meetings, we compare them to in-person meetings. We thus ask: (a) What (perceived and actual) differences and similarities are there between digital and in-person workplace meetings? To map the video meeting as a genre, we ask: (b) What are the key structural, linguistic, and interactional patterns of the video meeting? Given the central role of English as a lingua franca in these workplaces, we ask: (c) To what extent and how does English language proficiency—including participants’ beliefs about and attitudes to English language proficiency—affect workplace communication in digital intercultural interactions? Finally, we adopt a critical intercultural communication approach, seeing ‘culture’ as a dynamic concept (e.g., Hua et al., 2022), which employees may attribute to self and others, and (dis-)align with in different ways. We ask: (d) To what extent and how is culture seen as relevant in multilingual workplaces? Participants will be interviewed about communication practices in the workplace both individually and in focus groups. We will also record and analyze samples of (i) video and (ii) in-person meetings, to enable triangulation of different types of data. We conclude by discussing how the project's findings can be used as a basis for best practices and for developing workplace communication training materials.

Since 2012, the Japanese Department at Dalarna University in Sweden has organised multicultural online sessions with universities in South Korea, China/Taiwan and Japan. These have been designed to provide students (intermediate learners and native speakers of Japanese) with the opportunity to develop their intercultural competence by way of interaction in Japanese with students who have different mother tongues and socio-cultural backgrounds.

The online sessions are held four times over eight weeks each term, with students from the universities being put into small groups. Prior to each session, the students write an essay on a topic related to social and cultural issues in either Japan or their own country that they then share with the members of their group. Together, they then meet online to discuss the essays. The participants are asked to have “dialogues" that involve deep discussions.

This study aims to explore whether the multicultural online sessions help students to develop their intercultural competence. After the 2020 and 2021 sessions, the participants were asked to respond to a questionnaire. The responses of the Japanese and European students (Dalarna University students are from both Sweden and other European countries) were analysed in relation to the five dimensions of intercultural competence put forward by Byram (1997, 2009). The results show that all five dimensions are apparent in students’ discussions. Also apparent was the fact many of the Japanese students felt it difficult to express their opinion because of their cultural background whereas some of the European students were overly confident in terms of their intercultural competence.

Several novels by Morimi Tomihiko (1979-) have been translated into other languages. However, readers of the original Japanese must wonder how such texts, heavy as they are in cultural associations, can be translated without losing the key elements that characterise the author’s works.   

Morimi is a prize-winning author of both essays and novels, many of which feature Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. His contemporary stories feature preposterous characters and settings that are rich in cultural reference. As well as realia, which represents both material culture and specific concepts (e.g., Mayoral 1999), and intertextuality, there is a wealth of cultural associations apparent from expressions, vocabulary, orthography, and classical verb and adjective conjugation. By carefully selecting these cultural elements, the author constructs a literary style that is reminiscent of modern Japanese literature from Taisho (1912-1926) and early Showa (1926-1989). His style also effectively creates a universe that exudes traditional Japanese aesthetic associations expressed by both cultural objects (e.g., food, art, music, decorative objects) and legendary beings (e.g., gods, monsters). Morimi’s abundant humour twists these associations: for example, he uses classical orthography and ancient vocabulary to describe trivial incidents, and he places traditional Japanese ornaments in unexpected settings. This serves to presuppose the diversity of Japanese cultural knowledge on the part of the reader.

The present study analyses both Morimi’s novel The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2006), and its English translation. Comical and fantastical, it has two narrators: a male university student in Kyoto and his object of love kurokami no otome (“dark-haired maiden”), who recount various episodes to the readers while making full use of the cultural elements described above. It has been adapted into an animation film in 2017, which won an international award and possibly led to the translation of the novel. Its English translation was published in 2019 (translator: Emily Balistrieri) without any translator’s notes, which suggests use of other translation techniques for cultural elements. The study identifies the different types of cultural elements present in the source text while considering their literary effects and analyses how – and how often – they are translated into English.

Human, This Ever-changing Creature: Oshiko’s Default Standard by Yukiko Motoya

As seen in the classical SF anime film Galaxy Express 999 (1979), relations between human and AIenhanced transhuman, and an AI-controlled dystopian society have always been popular in Japanese imagination. These relations can be confrontational, or alternatively, affectionate as sometimes depicted in shōjo manga. In the novel Oshiko’s Default Standard (Oshiko no deforuto in Japanese original) (2021) by Yukiko Motoya (1979-), however, there is no human-transhuman relations as such, as the story depicts the process of human rapidly transforming into AI-enhanced transhuman – in a seemingly dystopian society. Set in the post-crisis Japan, the novel focuses on an everyday-life sphere - child-rearing and nursery school - in a society in which co-prosperity with the AI had become the main national policy. The lessons at the nursery school aim to raise children with outstanding ”abilities to become homogenous”, as individual differences are now considered vulnerability rather than strength. Many professions have been taken over by white cube-shaped robots produced by a single company, and although there is no description of these robots actively controlling the society, people – especially children and youths - start idealizing them and imitating their functions through implanting devices in all body parts. Oshiko, the protagonist, is a mother of two and has adapted well to this society, in which everyone is connected to internet for 24hours/day and endlessly consume digitized content. The nature, including natural human feelings, has been tamed and trivialized to become mere ”undigitized” or ”raw” content for her. Through the close reading, the present paper analyses some of the issues this controversial novel raises, focusing on the possible changes AI-dominated society make on humans, including borders between normal and abnormal, connection with others and loss of individuality, shifting bodily senses, as well as the human essence which can only exist in the constant state of changes.

Scanlation as Teaching Material for Japanese – English Translation

Hiroko Inose (Dalarna University, Sweden)

hin@du.se

Scanlation, or translation of Japanese manga by amateur fan translators is widely practiced, and it is made available online. Though it is deemed illegal by the publishers, it can be used in practical teaching of translation. The present study demonstrates three different ways of using scanlation (or imitation of its system) in teaching of Japanese-English translation. In all cases, it is important to first inform the students about the legally dubious status of the practice.

In the first case, mock scanlation was practiced – students in small groups were given different chapters of manga work to translate. Translation was uploaded in the learning platform, and students were required to comment on chapters translated by others. Although the work of manga to translate had been chosen by the teacher, team translation and importance of feedback from the readers was experienced, similar to that of fan translators. The second case is using scanlation for translation criticism – it is known that scanlation prefers culturally more loyal translation than the official translation of manga, and students who were given excerpt of original Japanese manga and its scanlation version were asked to comment on various translation strategies used, as well as to check the accuracy of translation. The third case is using scanlation works to write a BA thesis in Japanese studies (specialised in translation). Here, the students compared the scanlation and official translation of a manga work to the original version and compare different approaches to translation adopted by professional and amateur translators.   

The present paper discusses how various elements in shōjo manga (Japanese comics for girls) have been incorporated in works of Japanese contemporary literature. The connection between shōjo manga and literature was pointed out for the first time when the novel Kitchen by Yoshimoto Banana was published in 1987. This paper argues that this connection has developed further since then, focusing on one of the most active writers in contemporary Japanese literature, Miura Shion. The paper briefly introduces the genre shōjo manga and describes its connection with the novel Kitchen before analysing a short story and an essay by Miura Shion, focusing both on their motifs and styles, to identify elements influenced by shōjo manga.

En este artículo se analiza cómo varios elementos de shōjo manga (cómics japoneses para chicas) se han incorporado en las obras de literatura contemporánea japonesa. La conexión entre shōjo manga y la literatura se señaló por primera vez cuando la novela Kitchen de Yoshimoto Banana se publicó en 1987. La autora de este artículo argumenta que la conexión entre los dos géneros se sigue desarrollando desde entonces, tomando como ejemplo Miura Shion, una de las autoras más activas dentro de literatura japonesa contemporánea. El artículo introduce brevemente el género de shōjo manga y describe su conexión con la novela Kitchen, antes de analizar un cuento y un ensayo de Miura Shion, centrándose tanto en sus temas como en el estilo, para identificar los elementos que tienen influencia de shōjo manga.

The present study analyses how the Western-Other in Moto Hagio’s original Japanese version of the graphic novel (manga) The Heart of Thomas (1975) is translated into English.

Translation of Japanese manga into English and other European languages became popular in the 1990s; however, modern shōjo (girls) manga began publication in Japan 40 years earlier in the 1950s. As critics point out, shōjo manga is a medium that traditionally reflected the dreams and problems of Japanese girls, which in turn influenced their understanding of the world. In the 1960s and early 1970s, when Japan was poor yet economic growth rapid, many shōjo stories took place in a Western setting because at that time, the West symbolised wealth. With no Japanese characters and often with much anachronism, these stories demonstrate the idealised Western-Other or Occidentalism. 

The Heart of Thomas is a story about adolescent boys in a boarding school in a small German town, and it served as the precursor to the establishment of the androgynous ”beautiful boy” prototype in shōjo culture. The work featured the Occidentalism that was prevalent in shōjo manga at the time, demonstrating a version of Europe translated into Japanese. 

40 years after its original publication, the work was translated into various European languages (French, English and Italian in 2012, 2013 and 2019 respectively).  The present study focuses on how this Western-Other constructed for Japanese girls in the 1970s was transferred for the modern Western readership. The source text elements which construct the exotic Europe – German terms transcribed in Japanese, anachronic European customs and institutions for example – are identified through close reading of the text.  Then the strategies used to translate these elements into English are analysed along with reader reception of target texts. Was the Western-Other constructed for Japanese girls more than 40 years ago translated into European languages as ”Us”, as one might expect? Or was it kept as exotic and alternate Europe, as someone else’s Other? How is Occidentalism in a classic Japanese shōjo manga received by Western readers? These are some of the questions discussed in the study. 

The present paper provides an analysis of how the Other(s) in Moto Hagio’s original Japanese version of the graphic novel The Heart of Thomas (1975), which was written for Japanese girls, is translated in the 2012 translation by Thorn. 

Translation of Japanese manga into English and other European languages became popular in the 1990s; however, modern shōjo (girls) manga began publication in Japan 40 years earlier in the 1950s. As critics point out, shōjo manga is a medium that traditionally reflected the dreams and problems of Japanese girls, which in turn influenced their understanding of the world. In the 1960s and early 1970s, when Japan was poor yet economic growth rapid, many shōjo stories took place in a Western setting – for example, with the portrayal of English nobility – because at that time, the West symbolised wealth. With no Japanese characters and often with much anachronism, these stories demonstrate the idealised Western-Other or Occidentalism. 

Shōjo manga is also known to experiment with stereotypical gender norms and to explore all possible alternatives, which reflects the struggle of girls in Japanese society. One of the prototypes that developed from this tradition is the androgynous ”beautiful boy”, who can engage in amorous relationships with other men or, indeed, other “beautiful boys”. The essence of shōjo manga is compathy; here, however, the girl reader has the chance to enjoy the romantic, sometimes sexual, relationships as the Other – that is to say, not as either girl or woman, but as somebody who can enjoy the freedom of the absent male gaze.

The Heart of Thomas is a story about adolescent boys in a boarding school in a small German town. It featured the Occidentalism that was prevalent in shōjo manga at the time and served as the precursor to the establishment of the androgynous ”beautiful boy” prototype, its main theme being  boys’ amorous feelings for each other. Its first and currently only official translation into a European language (English) was published in 2012, almost 40 years after its original publication. This fact allows us to study how these elements – that is to say, Occidentalism and the “beautiful boy” – that were developed for Japanese girls in the 1970s were transferred for the modern Western readership. Through a close reading and analysis of translation problems and strategies, as well as reader reception, the Other(s) presented in the source and target texts will be discussed.     

Mitsuhashi Takajo (1899-1972) is regarded as one of the most original of the haiku poets active in pre- and postwar Japan. She started studying haiku for Hara Sekitei, a poet of traditionalist lineage, but she soon turned away from the simple realism and focus on natural scenery, typical for early 20th century haiku, and started to explore more subjective and challenging subjects. The aggressiveness of some of her poems have become well known, interpreted as expressing a feminist perspective and the frustration over being a woman in a patriarchal society. As in most modern haiku, her work is strongly autobiographical, and many of the turbulent shifts, both in her private life and in Japanese society, before, during, and after the war, is reflected in her poems. In the postwar period, Takajo started to collaborate with avant-garde poets in Tomizawa Kakio’s circle, and her work became even more experimental.

In this paper, I will discuss Takajo’s development as a poet and show how her oeuvre offers examples of several of the stylistic movements that make up the history of 20th century haiku. Her poems usually include a seasonal reference and adhere to the 5-7-5 rhythm of traditional haiku. However, she uses these conventions in ways different from the objective visuality of the traditionalists. Already in early works, an interest in human society and psychology links her to the Shinkô (New style) poets and the Ningen tankyûha (The explorers of the human condition). Like many other female poets in her generation, she sometimes uses homely themes, but seldom in the simplistic style of the so-called Daidokorohaiku (Kitchen haiku); rather she uses these for enigmatic juxtapositions typical for the avant-garde style, pushing the boundaries of language expression. She also shows a flexibility in register, sometimes using classical poetic language, but sometimes writing in colloquial Japanese, at times even using childish expressions, thus becoming a forerunner for later poets such as Tsubouchi Nenten and Ikeda Sumiko. 

This paper is part of a larger research project, which investigates modern Japanese haiku by female poets.

In this paper I will present a research project which aims to understand the processes affecting a literary genre, when it is moved from the specific context of its original culture and becomes adapted to, and developed in, an entirely foreign environment. The genre in question is the Japanese haiku, which originated some 500 years ago, and which still is practiced actively in Japan and abroad.

More than a century has passed since the haiku started its journey over the world. Today, haiku-poetry has become an almost global movement, and there is a growing population of haiku enthusiasts, especially in Europe and North and South America. As in Japan, haiku is poetry that is written as much as it is read. A demand for receiving guidance in the art has created a market for introductory works and handbooks of various formats. Such educational texts give a view into the aims, aesthetics, values, and even preconceptions of the people engaged in this form of poetry. In Japan, a very large number of such handbooks have been published, often by leading poets. In other languages, the number of such publications is naturally smaller, but it is still large enough to make meaningful a comparative study of the views about haiku within different cultural contexts. 

My aim is to cover the most important works of this kind written in English and Swedish and compare the arguments in these with a selection of handbooks written in Japanese, which are chosen from poets of different backgrounds, covering the spectrum from traditionalists to avant-garde poets. Thus, the diversity within the Japanese haiku scene will be reflected. I will discuss some of the differences found concerning attitudes towards, realism, metaphors, seasonality, language rhythm and prosody. 

Until the beginning of the 20th century, in Japan, writing haiku had been an activity that mostly concerned men. However, in the early decades of this century, an increasing number of women began to express themselves in this poetry format. In the beginning, haiku by women were called “kitchen haiku”. This name was taken from the “kitchen column” in the most influential haiku journal, the hototogisu, of the early modern haiku movement. Not without pejorative connotations, this word still gave a, at least, partly adequate description of the topics often used by female poets. At this age, more than ever, haiku had become an autobiographic art and a frequent occurrence of household topics in the works by female authors was an inevitable consequence of the situation of women in the Japanese society. It is also undeniable that such topics brought entirely new perspectives to the genre. 

In this paper, my aim is to make a critical evaluation of the notion of “kitchen haiku” and show that it includes less obvious aspects. It is true that many poems in this style have a homely character, focussing on quiet everyday themes and family life, but this does not give the whole picture. Investigating the works of leading female poets of the early and mid-20th century, with a special focus on Takeshita Shizunojo (1887-1951) and Mitsuhashi Takajo (1899-1972), I will show that the topic of rage and frustration is conspicuous. This is strikingly different from the mainstream haiku poetry by male authors in the same age, where such topics are rarely found, and implies that expressions of anger may be understood from a gender perspective. I will reflect over how much the individual biographies of the authors can explain such topics, or if they should be seen as a general frustration with the roles forced upon women by the surrounding society. I will also show how such themes result in new ways of expression, often in the form of bold metaphors, that are likely an important formative force behind the avantgarde haiku movement in the postwar period.

Japanese haiku is often analyzed from the point of view of its visual and allusive expressions, but there are not few haiku poems that explore sound and the impression it makes on us. Well-known examples are, of course, “the sound of water” from the so-called “frog poem” by Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694), and the same author’s way to express the deafening noise of the cicadas as “silence”. Interpretations based on Zen, paradox, and synesthesia have been explored by others, but in this paper, I will focus on what I define as polyphonic effects. I will analyze a selection of the numerous examples of sound-haiku found among the work of Yosa Buson (1716-1784). As he, besides being the most important haiku poet of his age, also was a leading painter, the picturesque qualities of his work have often been stressed, but he seems to have had a particularly keen ear for the richness of the sounds of his world, which often gives his works a vivid- here-and-now quality. He can use sounds of varying tone color, intensity, volume, and distance to create three-dimensional polyphonic effects. I will discuss how these sound compositions may be a development of the common haiku technique of juxtaposition and speculate about influences from the drama music of his age, when music is said to have been mainly a heterophonic matter.

Eyelight, in the eyes of a human portrayed on film, is a cinematographic means to augment the vividness of expressed emotions. This is used by both cinematographers and stills photographers, and it is also expressed in Anglo-Saxon, Arabic, and Japanese literatures. Here, the effect of using eyelight in the cornea of the human eye on film is examined by eye-tracking individuals on a Swedish university campus, in order to study their perceptual responses to film characters, with, or without, a glimpse of light in their eyes. The participants’ perceived capacity to discern the emotional states of the film characters was also tested. Eye-tracking data were analysed for entry time, fixation time, dwell time, hit ratio and revisitors, while emotional decoding was captured through a self-report survey, and by open questions. Our results demonstrated that film viewers’ attention is captured 49% faster, and 11% less time is used per fixation to film characters’ eyes, when eyelight is used. In addition, 58% of our participants claimed that emotions were easy to discern from eyes in the eyelight condition, whereas only 36% claimed that emotions were easy to discern under the no-eyelight condition. Although our results concern the subjective impression of one’s ability to discern the emotions of each film character, they offer preliminary support for the idea of using eyelight to enhance emotional communication in film and stills photography.