ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 directly evidences the value of more holistic and context-sensitive analysis of Japanese script use by looking at how these methods further our understanding of a recognized orthographic practice. The chapter specifically attends to the phenomenon of marked katakana use in depictions of non-native Japanese speech, examining whether prior descriptions of this practice as a direct marker of accent or non-Japanese status explain its use. As a primary data source, the analysis surveys where this marking technique appears, is modified, or is avoided in depictions of non-native Japanese production across three manga. While questions of Japanese ability are seen as a potential influence, in no case is either poor Japanese production or non-Japanese status enough to guarantee that katakana marking will occur. Rather, authors are found to use and avoid the technique based on whether or not a character performs their ideological conception of a particular “non-native” identity, with the script practice therefore fundamentally motivated by social understandings of language users rather than abstract views of individual scripts. In closing, some social implications of the findings are considered, especially in relation to when and where the practice is seen as controversial in Japan.
