Homogenization or Hierarchization?: A Problem of Written Language in the Public Sphere of Modern Japan

Abstract

Pre-modern Japanese society was in a diglossic situation, which Ferguson defines in his classical essay on hierarchical dichotomy as the existence of differing written and spoken varieties of the language. In Meiji Japan many writers and intellectuals sought to resolve this linguistic problem through a movement that aimed to unify spoken and written words, the genbun itchi (言文一致). However, the diglossia in Japan was not as hard-edged, for example, as the one in Korea. Kanbun (漢文classical Chinese writing) was read and written in the Japanese style as a high variety in traditional Japan, which also allowed for the blending of Japanese indigenous words. Furthermore, various styles of this blend could be used with different degrees of colloquial features based on the formality and function of the context. This situation allowed the survival of kanbun and Chinese characters in modern Japan. In fact, from the Meiji period to 1945, all official documents were written in Japanese styled kanbun known as kanbun kundoku tai (漢文訓読体) and not in the colloquial style.