North Pillow Brings Bad Luck: Construction of Ideologies of English in a Japanese TV Drama, Massan

ABSTRACT

This article examines how ideologies of English are constructed and reproduced through the use of English by various television characters. It analyzes the form, content, and context in an NHK morning drama Massan, focusing on the construction of incompetence. Similar to previous studies, the contrast between characters based on their English skills are represented through various semiotic processes. However, unlike other studies where the individuals lacking English competence are represented as stupid and objects of ridicule, one of the main supporting characters of Massan uses ‘bad English’ but has a strong, positive role in the drama. The mismatch between the character’s speech and her character in the drama seems to blur the negative aspect of incompetence in English, and possibly mollifies the viewers’ own English inferiority complex. The juxtaposition of a strong supporting character with a lack of English creates a space for this alternative positive interpretation. However, such positive representation does not negate the power of English itself; rather, it appears to heighten the division among Japanese people based on their English skills.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my great appreciation to Satoko Suzuki, Neriko M. Doerr, Debra Occhi, Cindi SturtzSreetharan, and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. My special thank goes to the Area Editor, Nerida Jarkey who provided invaluable comments and suggestions throughout the process.

Notes

¹ Kachru categorizes world Englishes into the three Concentric Circles: the Inner Circle, where English is the primary language (e.g., the USA, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand); the Outer Circle, where institutionalized varieties of English are used due to colonization (e.g., India, Singapore, and Nigeria); and the Expanding Circle, where English is used as a foreign language (e.g., Egypt, Japan, and China).

² See McKenzie’s first chapter (2010) and Stanlaw’s third chapter (2004) on the history of English in Japan.

³ See Kroskrity (2004) on other definitions.

⁴ Iconization involves ‘a transformation of the sign relationship between linguistic features (or varieties) and the social images with which they are linked’ while erasure is ‘the process in which ideology … renders some persons or activities (or sociolinguistic phenomena) invisible … .Fractal recursivity involves ‘the projection of an opposition, salient at some level of relationship, onto some other level’ (ibid: 37–38).

⁵ See Park’s fifth chapter (2009) for details on the representation of language ideologies in scripted media.

⁶ Suzuki (this issue) and Doerr (this issue) discuss matters related to the notion of native speakers to contrast with the Others. This article also makes references to the notion of externalization in footnotes 9 and the discussion of Catherine’s incompetency in English.

⁷ There are three other bilingual speakers in the drama: Ema, Masaharu and Ellie’s daughter, and her fiancé Mike, and Ei’ichirō Kamoi. Ei’ichirō is the only native Japanese who is fully functional bilingual character aside from Masaharu. I will discuss the representation of his English in other paper. For Ema’s English, see Doerr (this issue).

⁸ Note that Masaharu’s mother’s rejection of Ellie as a daughter-in-law is an example of the ideology of externalization.

⁹ See Doerr (this issue) on ‘Auld Lang Syne’.

¹⁰ The transcription conventions include:

. a pause preceded by falling intonation (。in Japanese)

, a pause preceded by sustained intonation (、in Japanese)

! a pause preceded by an emphasized utterance

? a pause preceded by rising intonation

bold original English text in the Japanese script

[text] screen/scene directions

[aɪpieɪ] phonetic transcriptions

(日本語) a subtitle given on the screen in Japanese; within English translation, it is noted as (Japanese subtitles) or (no Japanese subtitles).

Each turn is given a number for the ease of reference in the analysis.

¹¹ Lu-go refers to a pop culture mock language created by the comedian Lu Oshiba who incorporates English words and phrases into Japanese sentences, including nonce borrowings (e.g., study-suru ‘to study’). Oshiba as well as Moody and Matsumoto note the benefit of Lu-go: (1) it provides a step for developing higher proficiency in English by reducing anxiety and (2) creates positive social meanings (comical but cool). Such interpretations run counter to the arguments set in this article, as well as with research by Park and Furukawa. Such differences, however, may be due to the difference in agency: authentic speakers vs. created characters, and other co-occurring semiotic devices.

¹² One of the reviewers pointed out that the use of –ya de may be a type of stylization to present Catherine as an Osaka native. While this might be the case, it does not negate that Catherine’s speech represents code-mixing, or ‘Lu-go’.

¹³ I recognize markedness in Ellie’s Japanese, however, her Japanese is still much more communicative than Catherine’s English. See Suzuki (this issue) on Ellie’s Japanese.

¹⁴ See Occhi (this issue) on love.

¹⁵ I thank one of the anonymous reviewers for raising this point.

¹⁶ See StrutzSreetharan (this issue) on gender roles.

¹⁷ I thank one of the anonymous reviewers for pointing out the pervasiveness of Anglomania among Japanese who cannot speak English.

¹⁸ I thank Satoko Suzuki for this insight.

¹⁹ The character Massan is from a sake making family with distinct family tradition; his study in Scotland was financially supported by Sumiyoshi brewery.