ICOL Lecture by Hideko Abe: Linguistic Practices of Japanese Transgender Speakers

Arizona State University's Interdisciplinary Committee on Linguistics presents Hideko Abe, associate professor of East Asian studies at Colby College, Maine, in the talk, "'Be Natural': Linguistic Practices of Japanese Transgender Speakers."

The Japanese language, which lacks grammatical gender, is often described as having two separate linguistic genres for "men" and "women." But what does that mean for transgender speakers? 

In this talk, Abe shows how transgender speakers negotiate their subject position in Japanese by manipulating the specific indexical value and/or meaning attached to linguistic features. She pinpoints instances of this dynamic status of transgender speakers, which is sometimes temporary and sometimes permanent, but is always entwined in the core structure of the Japanese language.

This event is hosted by the Department of English, is free of charge and is open to the public.