Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii
This paper examines the Japanese work kawaii 'cute'. Young Japanese women frequently say kawaii to express positive feelings towards objects or people. Scholars suggest that Japanese women are making kawaii a part of female gender identity. From a linguistic perspective kawaii is not lexic...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Equinox Publishing Ltd.
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34769 |
| _version_ | 1848754313468313600 |
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| author | Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko |
| author_facet | Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko |
| author_sort | Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper examines the Japanese work kawaii 'cute'. Young Japanese women frequently say kawaii to express positive feelings towards objects or people. Scholars suggest that Japanese women are making kawaii a part of female gender identity. From a linguistic perspective kawaii is not lexicalised in other langauges. Although the kawaii phenomenon has been thoroughly examined, there has been no rigorous semantic analysis. The framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach was applied to explicate the exact meaning of kawaii for non-Japanese speakers. The analysis indicates that the core meaning of kawaii is linked to a notion of a 'child'. The associated emotion is explained as 'when I see this, I can't not feel something good'. The kawaii syndrome reveals a Japanese cultural characteristic which puts emphasis on being 'gender appropriate' in schools and society. The analysis has implications for understanding gender construction and expression in non-western cultures. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:38:26Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-34769 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:38:26Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Equinox Publishing Ltd. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-347692017-09-13T15:22:41Z Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko semantics NSM approach gender reinforcement Japanese culture kawaii ('cute') This paper examines the Japanese work kawaii 'cute'. Young Japanese women frequently say kawaii to express positive feelings towards objects or people. Scholars suggest that Japanese women are making kawaii a part of female gender identity. From a linguistic perspective kawaii is not lexicalised in other langauges. Although the kawaii phenomenon has been thoroughly examined, there has been no rigorous semantic analysis. The framework of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach was applied to explicate the exact meaning of kawaii for non-Japanese speakers. The analysis indicates that the core meaning of kawaii is linked to a notion of a 'child'. The associated emotion is explained as 'when I see this, I can't not feel something good'. The kawaii syndrome reveals a Japanese cultural characteristic which puts emphasis on being 'gender appropriate' in schools and society. The analysis has implications for understanding gender construction and expression in non-western cultures. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34769 10.1558/genl.v8i3.341 Equinox Publishing Ltd. restricted |
| spellingShingle | semantics NSM approach gender reinforcement Japanese culture kawaii ('cute') Asano-Cavanagh, Yuko Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii |
| title | Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii |
| title_full | Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii |
| title_fullStr | Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii |
| title_full_unstemmed | Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii |
| title_short | Linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the Japanese term kawaii |
| title_sort | linguistic manifestation of gender reinforcement through the use of the japanese term kawaii |
| topic | semantics NSM approach gender reinforcement Japanese culture kawaii ('cute') |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34769 |