Conversation from JGuyUSGuy

“Have you ever thought of the relationship between studying Japan and American queer identity (the same way you think about English learning and J queer identity)?”

That’s an AMAZING question, 働く犬. I think it may be one and the same phenomenon in that we see ourselves in each others’ struggles and successes. There may be similar factors as to why queer American (or English-speaking) individuals study Asia and why some queer Asians are motivated to study English. Sugoi omoshiroii deshou??

Additionally, learning about my second language identity has made me curious about others’. It was very cool to write about my experiences learning Japanese and living in Japan, and I find that writing about it allows me a different mode of expression than speaking; writing can often be therapeutic and help me make connections, etc. I wanted to see what that experience might be like for my Japanese queer friends, many of whom are still trying to figure out their own sexualities.

Even more significantly, and like myself, I think many people in America are currently questioning how we think about human sexuality and to help us think us through this issue, we are interested in other cultures. It’s a fascinating comment “I’m gay in English, but not in Japanese” because it can have so many possible meanings.

Finally, as I wrote in my proposal (which you can view at http://DiscoveringVoices.wordpress.com), there is something quite unique about Japan and its history and expressions of sexuality. For example, American is a young country and until fairly recently has never really had a “normalized” culture of male-male intimacy the way Japan had at one time. So many reasons, 働く犬.

READ THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION BY CLICKING HERE

Shitty First Draft of Preface and Ch. 1

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Here’s the skeleton…a lot of development to go. Ch 2 and 3 have both been started. I consider this my shitty first draft (although it’s more like my shitty 27th draft). The climb up the mountain has begun!

(at left, the base of Fuji-san)

Dissertation, Preface and Chapter 1

Hermeneutics and Semiotics

HERMENEUTICS OF THE LINGUISTIC ACT

by Göran Sonesson

SEMIOTICS, NATURAL LANGUAGE AND MAN-MACHINE INTERCOURSE

by Melnikov G.P.

The books have arrived!

A HUGE THANK YOU to New Victoria Publishers for donating copies of QUEER JAPAN to my study. The book will be used to provide models of writing to participants who will create narratives in response to the question of a possible relationship between English language learning/usage and ideas about sexuality.

IRB Passed!

This project has been approved by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (Phone: 724/357-7730).

The approved research protocol may be viewed by clicking below:

APPROVED RESEARCH PROTOCOL

To view the research proposal, please click the appropriate tab at the top of this page.

Full Interview with GALE’s Folake Abass

Full interview now posted online in the GALE Spring 2008 newsletter:

Abass, F. & Harrison, M. (2008).Discovering voices, discovering selves: A dissertation about language and sexuality in Japan. GALE Newsletter, Spring 2008. http://tokyoprogressive.org/gale-sig/Spring%202008%20Newsletter.pdf

Mr. Moore and Focus

A few weeks ago I participated in a one-day “retreat” in Nagoya, Japan (click me to view the powerpoint) where I met a recent MA grad whose thesis examines the very topic of my dissertation. Mr. Moore and I were excited to share our ideas and I’ve since had the pleasure of reading his research. His conclusions support my hypotheses and reflect my concern about queer representation in the English classroom. More importantly, I see Moore’s work as a kind of pathway into an immense wilderness, and my task is to continue the path , broaden it, and take it in a new direction.

As I sat on the bus to the Seoul airport this morning I considered specific speech acts such as the “coming out proclamation”, acts of identification (such as “I am this or that”), and the significance of words, revelation, and self-acceptance. This led me to wonder if perhaps I have heard the call to focus yet even more succinctly, for example: Discovering Voices, Discovering Selves: Queer desire, English language and acts of identification in Japan. Do I want to focus on acts of revelation and discuss the semiotic significance of doing so in a second language? Hmmm.

And still there is a strong voice within me that suggests an entire world will be revealed after I collect data from participants. This world will help me continue the path…

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