| This study investigates audience dynamics and their influence on the speech of politicians in everyday settings in contemporary Japan. In this particular world, negotiations are held, speeches are made, debates take place, bargains are struck, and all of these activities are accomplished through words. Language is the engine, fuel, and wheels of political action. This study closely examines politicians' discourse in three particular speech occasions, focusing primarily, though not exclusively, on the speech of one particular Tokyo municipal representative. These occasions are: (1) gaitoo enzetsu 'street speeches'; (2) kookai tooronkai 'open public debates'; and (3) assembly sessions. The study shows that audience dynamics greatly vary across settings, and occasionally within them. The peculiarities of the audience in each case affect speaker performance on two dimensions: what they say, in terms of content; and how they say it, as reflected in the use of various linguistic resources in the Japanese language. The speech occasions examined indicate a clear awareness of audience dynamics on the part of politicians. Their accommodation for their listeners strongly influences not only the ways in which they seek to accomplish their social tasks, but also the ways in which they construct their social selves.; In order to understand audience dynamics in these speech events and their effect on politicians, the researcher conducted ethnographic fieldwork, closely observing daily political activities for a period of six months. For the analysis of speaker performance, the study employs microanalysis of recorded (audio/video) speech data. This dual approach enables the identification of patterns and dynamics that would be apparent through either lens alone.; In the street speech data, the nature of audiences varied from physically absent but remotely attentive to physically present but fleeting. The speaker adjusted both the form and content of speech to accommodate these differences and woo voters effectively. In the open public debate data, political candidates engaged in identity construction work as incumbents or challengers seeking public office. In the assembly sessions, the politicians were both speakers and hearers. In this particular setting, they used two speech styles to construct their voices (Bakthin, 1981) to manage their social roles: (1) a highly formalized speech style to index on-stage voice as a member of the assembly; and (2) an informal speech style through audience interjections to index back-stage, private voices and to display partisan affiliation.; Much of what we observe in the speech of Japanese politicians we would also expect to find in a variety of contexts elsewhere. In any national, cultural, or linguistic context, we do not speak merely to exchange information, but to dialogue. This study illustrates that in the specific social world of Japan. While some of what we observe reflects linguistic resources and cultural characteristics unique to Japanese communication, the study shows that speakers exploit the linguistic resources available to them, whatever they may be, to accomplish their social purposes. |
