The Discursive Construction of Hierarchy in Japanese Society

6 Space, signs, symbols, and objects used in conjunction with discourse

In the preceding chapters, I illustrated the ways in which new club members in junior high schools were socialised into the hierarchical order in and through language, as well as the daily discursive and behavioural practices that enacted the interpersonal jouge kankei in such settings. In other words, I mainly demonstrated how the actors involved in this hierarchical system “talked the talk”. However, making language and discursive choices is not just a matter of being more or less polite or formal; specific ways of using certain forms of talk and styles of language bring into existence social relations among actors – in the case at hand, among seniors and juniors in ...