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Abstract:
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This dissertation is a sociolinguistic study of the ideologies about language , culture and ethnicity among Japanese immigrants and descendants in Brazil (hereafter , Nikkeis ) who gather at a local Japanese cultural association , searching for what it means to be “Japanese” in Brazil . This study focuses on how linguistic behaviors are ideologically understood and associated with cultural activities and ethnic identities . Using the language ideologies framework , it seeks to describe the ways in which Nikkeis negotiate and create social meanings of language in both local and transnational contexts .
Nikkeis are an overwhelmingly celebrated minority group in Brazil . In this context , the cultural association serves as a site where symbolic cultural differences are constructed by those Nikkeis who strive to identify themselves as a prestigious minority . This study demonstrates that the Japanese language is one of the important resources in performing the Nikkei identity . At the same time , due to an on -going language shift , Portuguese as a means of communication is becoming increasingly more important for cultural transmission . Thus , the members of the association , which include both Japanese monolinguals and Portuguese monolinguals , are in constant negotiation , trying to strike a balance between symbolic values of Japanese , pragmatic values of Portuguese , as well as their own language competencies .
The goal of this project is to answer the following three research questions : 1 ) What social meanings do Nikkeis assign to Japanese and Portuguese , and how does this perception affect Nikkeis’ identity formation ? 2 ) What are the characteristics of linguistic practices in the association and how do the speakers use available linguistic resources to construct identities ? 3 ) How can this study inform us about the transforming reality of the Japanese Brazilian community in this global age ?
Contributions of this study include furthering of the sociolinguistic research on language ideologies , linguistic practices and identity construction in an immigrant community . It also contributes to the study of language shift , by underscoring the role of language ideologies in rationalizing language choices . This project is also significant for the study of Japanese diaspora in Latin America , providing the first sociolinguistic investigation of a Japanese cultural association in Brazil . |