Cover not available
Part of
Cultural Keywords in Discourse
Edited by Carsten Levisen and Sophia Waters
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 277] 2017
► pp. 211–234

Chapter 9
Kawaii discourse

The semantics of a Japanese cultural keyword and its social elaboration

 | Curtin University
With a point of departure in the Japanese keyword kawaii, roughly, “cute”, this chapter explores contemporary Japanese social discourse. Using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage to explicate kawaii, the two kawaii compounds ita-kawaii and otona-kawaii and the related keywords itai and otona, this study breaks new ground into the understanding of the conceptual basis of kawaii and its elaborations in discourse. As the conceptual configurations of kawaii and related concept are analysed, a view on Japanese socialization and gendered discourse is simultaneously developed, and the value of ‘being kawaii’ is being scrutinized through the stability and innovations of kawaii in discourse.
Keywords: kawaii , itai , otona , Japanese social keywords, gender discourse, media discourse
Article outline
  • 1. Kawaii as a cultural keyword
  • 2.“Kawaii discourses”: Gender, media, and society
  • 3.Semantics and “kawaii discourse”
    • 3.1The semantics of ita-kawaii
    • 3.2The semantics of ita-kawaii
    • 3.3 The semantics of otona
    • 3.4The semantics of otona-kawaii
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 19 October 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.277.09asa
References (76)
References
Allison, Anne. 1991. “Japanese Mothers and Obentos: The Lunch-Box as Ideological State Apparatus.” Anthropological Quarterly 64 (4): 195–208. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006. “Cuteness as Japan’s Millennial Product.” In Pikachuu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon. ed. by Tobin Joseph, 34–49. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Arima, Akie N. 2003. “Gender Stereotypes in Japanese Television Advertisements.” Sex Roles 49 (1/2): 81–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko. 2013. “Understanding Japanese Culture through a Semantic Analysis of Kawaii ‘Cute’, itai ‘pitiful’ and ita-kawaii ‘pitifully trying to be cute’.” Proceedings of the 2012 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, Perth, Australia, 5–7 December 2012, edited by John Henderson, Marie-Eve Ritz and Celeste Rodriguez Louro, [URL]
. 2014. “Linguistic Manifestation of Gender Reinforcement through the Use of the Japanese Term Kawaii (‘cute’).” Gender and Language 8 (3): 341–359. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bell, Philip, and Marko Milic. 2002. “Goffman’s Gender Advertisements Revisited: Combining Content Analysis with Semiotic Analysis.” Visual Communication 1 (2): 203–222. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burdelski, Matthew, and Koji Mitsuhashi. 2010. “‘She Thinks You’re Kawaii’: Socializing Affect, Gender, and Relationships in a Japanese Preschool.” Language in Society 39 (1): 65–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clancy, Patricia M. 1999. “The Socialization of Affect in Japanese Mother- Child Conversation.” Journal of Pragmatics 31(11): 1397–1421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Courtney, Alice E., and Sarah Wernick Locheretz. 1971. “A Woman’s Place: An Analysis of the Roles Portrayed by Women in Magazine Advertisements.” Journal of Marketing Research 8: 92–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doi, Takeo. 1981. The Anatomy of Dependence. Tokyo: Kodansha.Google Scholar
Dutcher, David P. 2009. Imadoki no nihongo waei-jiten [Dictionary of today’s Japanese]. Tokyo: Kenkyusha.Google Scholar
Fiorentino, Robert, and David Poeppel. 2007. “Compound Words and Structure in the Lexicon.” Language and Cognitive Processes 22 (7): 953–1000. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frith, Katherine Toland, Hong Cheng, and Ping Shaw. 2004. “Race and Beauty: A Comparison of Asian and Western Models in Woman’s Magazine Advertisements.” Sex Roles 50 (1/2): 53–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goddard, Cliff, ed. 2008. Cross-Linguistic Semantics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
, ed. 2011. Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
, ed. 2012. “Semantic Primes, Semantic Molecules, Semantic Templates: Key Concepts in the NSM Approach to Lexical Typology.” Linguistics 50(3): 711–743. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goddard, Cliff, and Anna Wierzbicka. 1994. Semantic and Lexical Universals – Theory and Empirical Findings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2002. Meaning and Universal Grammar – Theory and Empirical Findings. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
. 2009. “Contrastive Semantics of Physical Activity Verbs: ‘Cutting’ and ‘Chopping’ in English, Polish, and Japanese.” Language Sciences 31: 60–96. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2010. “Semantics and Cognition.” In Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2014. Words and Meanings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Goffman, Erving. 1979. Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Haramura, Kazuko. 2010. Itai hito ni nara-nai jibun hasshin-ryoku [Don't be someone itai: How to improve your communicativity]. Tokyo: Business-sha.Google Scholar
Hattori, Tadasu. 2011. “ Webu o riyou-shi-ta kenkyuu-rei [Examples of research by means of websites].” Kouza IT to Nihongo-Kenkyuu (IT and Research on Japanese language): 89–136.Google Scholar
Hjorth, Larissa. 2005. “Odours of Mobility: Mobile Phones and Japanese Cute Culture in the Asia-Pacific.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 26(1–2): 39–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hotta, Miho. 2000. “Perceived Distribution of Opinions in Young Generation and Their Parents’ Generation Regarding Sex Roles.” The Japanese Journal of Psychology 70(6): 503–509. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ide, Sachiko. 1989. “Formal Forms and Discernment: Two Neglected Aspects of Universals of Linguistic Politeness.” Multilingua 8 (2/3): 223–248. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1990. “How and Why Do Women Speak More Politely in Japanese.” In Aspects of Japanese Women’s Language, ed. by Schiko Ide, and Naomi H. McGloin, 63–79. Tokyo: Kuroshio Shuppan.Google Scholar
. 1992. “On the Notion of Wakimae: Toward an Integrated Framework of Linguistic Politeness.” Mosaic of Language: Essays in Honour of Professor Natsuko Okuda, pp. 298–305.Google Scholar
. 2006. Wakimae no Goyouron [Pragmatics of wakimae]. Tokyo: Taishuukan Shoten.Google Scholar
. 2013. “Rethinking the Wakimae Aspect of Linguistic Politeness in Terms of Ba/Field Theory.” Paper presented at 13th International Pragmatics Conference, New Delhi, September 8–13.
Ishii-Kuntz, Masako, Katsuko Makino, Kuniko Kato, and Michiko Tsuchiya. 2004. “Japanese Fathers of Preschoolers and Their Involvement in Child Care.” Journal of Marriage and Family 66: 779–791. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ito, Takane, and Yoko Sugioka. 2002. Go no shikumi to Go-keisei (Word Structure and Word Formation). Tokyo: Kenkyuusha.Google Scholar
Kadokawa Kokugo Jiten [Kadokawa Japanese language dictionary]. 1986. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten.Google Scholar
Kageyama, Taro. 1982. “Word Formation in Japanese.” Lingua 57: 215–268. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kageyama, Taro, and Yoko Yumoto. 1997. Go-keisei to gainen-kouzou (Word Formation and Structure). Kenkyuusha: Tokyo.Google Scholar
Kang, Mee-Eun. 1997. “The Portrayal of Women’s Images in Magazine Advertisements: Goffman’s Gender Analysis Revisited.” Sex Roles 37 (11/12): 979–996. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kataoka, Kuniyoshi. 1997. “Affect and Letter-Writing: Unconventional Conventions in Casual Writing by Young Japanese Women.” Language in Society 26: 103–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kawamura, Yuniya. 2006. “Japanese Teens as Producers of Street Fashion.” Current Sociology 54 (5): 784–801. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary. 2003. Tokyo: Kenkyusha.Google Scholar
Kinsella, Sharon. 1995. “Cuties in Japan.” In Women, Media and Consumption in Japan, ed. by Lise Skov, and Brian Moeran, 220–254. Richmond, VA: Curzon.Google Scholar
Kondoh, Yasuhiro. 2007. “Intaa-netto-jidai no yourei-shuushuu [Data collection in the internet era].” Gengo [Language] 36 (7): 62–69.Google Scholar
Koujien (Garden of Words). 1998. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.Google Scholar
Lebra, Takie. 1986. “Reciprocity and the Asymmetric Principle: An Analytical Reappraisal of the Japanese Concept of On .” In Japanese Culture and Behaviour, ed. by Takie Lebra, and William Lebra. 192–207. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii.Google Scholar
Lindner, Katharina. 2004. “Images of Women in General Interest and Fashion Magazine Advertisements from 1955 to 2002.” Sex Roles 51 (7/8): 409–421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Madge, Leila. 1997. “Capitalizing on ‘Cuteness’: The Aesthetics of Social Relations in a New Postwar Japanese Order.” Japanstudien 9: 155–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McVeigh, Brian J. 1996. “Commodifying Affection, Authority and Gender in the Everyday Objects of Japan.” Journal of Material Culture 1(3): 291–312. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2000. “How Hello Kitty Commodifies the Cute, Cool and Camp.” Journal of Material Culture 5 (2): 225–245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Miller, Laura. 2004. “You Are Doing Burikko!: Censoring/Scrutinizing Artificers of Cute Femininity in Japanese.” In Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology, ed. by Shigeko Okamoto, and Janet S. Shibamoto Smith, 148–165. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Nakamura, Keiko. 2001. “Gender and Language in Japanese Preschool Children.” Research on Language and Social Interaction 34 (1): 15–43. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakane, Chie. 1973. Japanese Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Ogino, Tsunao. 2007. “Koupasu toshite no WWW kensaku no katsuyou [Use of WWW search as corpus].” Gengo [Language] 36 (7): 26–33.Google Scholar
Pauwels, Luc. 2012. “A Multimodal Framework for Analyzing Websites as Cultural Expressions.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 17: 247–265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peeters, Bert. ed. 2006. Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sakurai, Takamasa. 2009. Sekai kawai kakumei [World kawaii revolution]. Tokyo: PHP Shinsho.Google Scholar
Shibamoto, Janet S. 1985. Japanese Women’s Language. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Shibatani, Masayoshi. 1990. The Languages of Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Skov, Lise, and Brian Moeran. 1995. Women, Media, and Consumption in Japan. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Stevens, Carolyn S. 2011. “Touch: Encounters with Japanese Popular Culture.” Japanese Studies 31 (1): 1–10. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sugimoto, Yoshio. 2010. An Introduction to Japanese Society. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Takarajimasha. 2010. Sweet. [URL]
Tamamura, Fumio. 1997. “Fukugou-go no Imi [Meanings of compound words].” Nihongogaku [Japanese Linguistics] 7 (5): 295–304.Google Scholar
Tamura, Yasuo. 2006. “Gendai Nihongo no fukugou-keiyoushi hasei- keiyoushi jougo-keiyoushi nit suite [Compound adjectives, derivative adjectives and reduplicated adjectives in Modern Japanese].” Hiroshima Daigaku Ryuugakusei Sentaa kiyou [Bulletin of International Center, Hiroshima University] 16: 13–20.Google Scholar
Tanomura, Tadaharu. 2000. “Denshi-media de yourei o sagasu [Searching examples in electronic media].” Nihongogaku [Japanese Linguistics] 19 (6): 25–34.Google Scholar
Tobin, Joseph. ed. 2006. Pikachuu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokemon. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, Anna. 1991. Cross-Cultural Pragmatics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
. 1992. Semantics, Culture, and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in Culture-Specific Configurations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
. 1994. “Emotion, Language, and Cultural Scripts.” In Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence, ed. by Shinobu Kitayama, and Hazel Rose Markus, 133–196. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1997. Understanding Cultures through Their Key Words. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
. 1999. Emotions across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2006. English. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2010. Experience, Evidence, and Sense. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yamada, Haru. 1997. Different Games, Different Rules. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Yano, Christine R. 2009. “Wink on Pink: Interpreting Japanese Cute as It Grabs the Global Headlines.” The Journal of Asian Studies 68 (3): 681–688. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011. “Reach Out and Touch Someone: Thinking through Sanrio’s Social Communication Empire.” Japanese Studies 31(1): 23–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yomota, Inuhiko. 2006. “Kawaii” ron [Theory of “kawaii”]. Tokyo: Chikuma Shinsho.Google Scholar
Yukawa, Sumiyuki and Masami Saito. 2004. “Cultural Ideologies and Japanese Language and Gender Studies: A Theoretical Review.” In Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology, ed. by Shigeko Okamoto, and Janet S. Shibamoto Smith, 23–37. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Sakaba, Hiromichi
2023. Conceptualization of “happy-like” feelings in Japanese and its relevance to a semantic typology of emotion concepts. Australian Journal of Linguistics 43:4 ► pp. 283 ff. DOI logo
Gladkova, Anna & Jesús Romero-Trillo
2021. The linguistic conceptualization in folk aesthetics. International Journal of Language and Culture 8:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Miller, Laura & Carolyn S. Stevens
2021. From beautiful to cute. International Journal of Language and Culture 8:1 ► pp. 62 ff. DOI logo
Peeters, Bert
2020. Culture Is Everywhere!. In Studies in Ethnopragmatics, Cultural Semantics, and Intercultural Communication, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.