| Japanese dialects, often different enough to be mutually unintelligible, still exist in Japan today, although almost everyone can communicate by means of the "standard" language taught in the schools and used in the national media. Dialects also appear in literary works. Modern (post-1890) Japanese literary works are written in the "vernacular style" (gembun itchi tai), which is based on Tokyo speech, but which also incorporates an extensive Chinese-based vocabulary and some grammatical features from various pre-modern (purely written) genres.;Dialect most often appears in literary works in dialogue imbedded within this written vernacular style. Dialect is "marked" as local and specific to a region, while non-dialect dialogue ("standard" language or Tokyo speech), is considered to be "unmarked," "universal." Because of its "marked" status, dialect may be fruitfully investigated in conjunction with issues of space and place: the setting of a work, the site of its production, regional culture.;After an introductory chapter on dialects, dialect scholarship, and possibilities for dialect in culture in Japan, this dissertation looks at Naka Kansuke's Gin no saji (The Silver Spoon, 1913-15). Naka was a Tokyo native, but used Aichi Prefecture dialect in this work. Chapter 3 examines the use of dialect in the works of two natives of Handa, Aichi Prefecture, Oguri Fuyo and the children's writer Niimi Nankichi, who both went to Tokyo but eventually returned to their native Aichi. Chapter 4 discusses Tanizaki Junichiro's works featuring Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe) dialect, focusing on Sasameyuki (The Makioka Sisters, 1943-48). As a counterpoint to the Kansai dialect of the Tokyo native Tanizaki, Chapter 5 looks at a native Osakan writer, Oda Sakunosuke, in particular his "Meoto zenzai" ("Red Beans and Rice for Two," 1940), and his literary critical piece "Kanosei no bungaku" ("The Literature of Possibility," 1946).;The significance of dialect is found to differ for each work treated. Dialect cannot be treated alone, but is always situated in relation, not only to spatial issues, but also to other concerns running through the work and the author's oeuvre as a whole. Examining issues relating to the enunciator and circumstances of enunciation of the "marked" language of dialect is a first step toward calling into question other "unmarked," taken-for-granted categories such as the "standard" language, "literature," and "Japan."... |
