Women in charge

Politeness and directives in the speech of Japanese women

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2913862
AutoresJanet S Smith (University of California, Davis, autor correspondente)
Ano1992
Volume21
Fascículo1
Páginas59-82
Data de publicação1992-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404500015037
OpenAlexW2101696333
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas28
Referências citadas25

This article explores the linguistic practices of Japanese men and women giving directions to subordinates. Previous research on language and gender across a number of languages has equated the speech of women with powerlessness. The literature on Japanese women's speech would support this notion. It characterizes Japanese female speech as soft, polite, indirect, in sum, as powerless. This presents problems for women who must command. The present study, an extension of my previous work on Japanese female speech (Shibamoto 1985, 1987) centered on women in more typically female roles, examines the directives of women in positions of authority in traditional and nontraditional domains and compares them with the directive forms chosen by men in similar positions. Explanations for the differences found are placed within the frameworks of a general theory of politeness and the culturally specific, gendered strategies for encoding politeness and authority in Japanese. (Sociolinguistics, language and gender, politeness

Directive · Japanese language · Sociolinguistics · Speech act · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Gender Studies in Language · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies