ABSTRACT

This paper explores how the discourse of Japanese ethnolinguistic identity differently affected three youths in a heritage language class in Australia. Based on a case study involving these informants, I show how the discourse was contested, reproduced, and appropriated. More specifically, I show how language was disaligned from ethnicity and construed as a commodity. This, however, did not make ethnicity irrelevant. It was reconnected with language to give it added value and authenticity. The discourse of ethnolinguistic identity and the discourse of commodification were thus articulated—or expressed together—by some of the youths to construct an interstitial space between these discourses, which allowed them to reap the benefits of their putative inheritance, while exempting themselves from its obligations. The paper thus sheds light on the polycentricity of heritage language classrooms, and on the multiple, layered discourses that operate in such spaces.

摘要

本文探讨了日本民族语言身份的话语如何不同地影响澳大利亚传统语言班的三名青年。基于涉及这些线人的案例研究，我展示了话语是如何被质疑、复制和挪用的。更具体地说，我展示了语言如何与种族脱节并被解释为商品。然而，这并没有使种族无关紧要。它与语言重新联系起来，赋予它附加价值和真实性。民族语言身份的话语和商品化的话语因此被一些青年表达或共同表达，以在这些话语之间构建一个间隙空间，这使他们能够从他们假定的继承中获得好处，同时免除自己的义务.