Sakuma, Tomoko

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Being “Japanese” in Latin America: Language and Identity of Japanese Immigrants in BrazilTomoko SakumaThe University of Texas at Austin1. IntroductionIn transnational and multiethnic contexts, immigrants constantly negotiate complex nationaland ethnic identities. Japanese immigrants in Brazil represent an especially interesting group ofminorities because languages and socio-cultural norms of Japan and Brazil are highly distinctive.Japanese society can be understood as vertically structured society, where hierarchy based onfactors such as age and social position play important roles in interpersonal relationships. Thehierarchical relationship is often expressed in the Japanese language with its elaborated honorificsystem.  In  contrast,  in  Brazilian  society,  closeness  of  relationships  such  as  those  based  onfriendship and kinship is emphasized more. As expected, different social norms can be foundcoexisting or conflicting within the Japanese immigrant community.Within sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, studies have focused on the strategic useof language for construction of identities and interpersonal relationships (e.g. Bell, 1984; Eckert& Rickford,  2001;  Le Page & Tabouret-Keller,  1985;  Schilling-Estes,  1998).  The notion  oflanguage ideology  has played an increasingly important  role in  exploring the complexity  oflanguage  use (e.g.  Silverstein,  1979;  Woolard &  Schieffelin,  1994:  Schieffelin,  Woolard,  &Kroskrity, 1998; Irvine, 2001). As defined by Silverstein, language ideology can be understoodas “sets of beliefs about language articulated by the users as a rationalization or justification ofperceived structure and use" (1979, p. 193). This  study  examines  the  ways  in  which  Japanese  immigrants  in  Brazil  construct  andnegotiate their multiple layers of identities through languages. Japanese immigrants can expresstheir identities as Japanese at one moment, but they can also display their identities as membersof  Brazilian society at  another  moment.  This  paper  focuses  on how linguistic  resources areideologically understood by the members of the community and linked with their ethnicities ornationalities.  The linguistic  resources include knowledge in the Japanese and the Portugueselanguages, as well as communicative strategies such as joking and play of words. This is a preliminary study that leads to a dissertation on ideologies about language andethnicity  among  Japanese  immigrants  in  Brazil.  The  data  are  drawn  from  pre-dissertationfieldwork conducted between July 2005 and June 2006 in the cities of Belo Horizonte (MinasGerais)  and  Campinas  (São  Paulo).  The  methods  used  for  data  collection  are  participantobservation, interviews,  and audio-recordings  of  interaction.  The ethnographic and discoursedata were collected on the premises of local Japanese associations and at a Japanese Brazilianhousehold. The excerpts used in this paper are from audio-recordings and handwritten data fromthe field note. Sakuma, T.22. BackgroundJapanese immigration to Brazil officially began in 1908. Fostered by Japan’s economicdifficulties and Brazil’s labor shortage,  approximately 189,000 Japanese entered Brazil duringthe prewar period. Although most of them intended to stay only for several years and return toJapan with wealth,  it  turned out  that  the plan was hard to  accomplish.  Their earnings weremeager,  and  their  lives  as  contract  laborers  in  coffee  plantations  were  harsh.  Many  of  theimmigrants eventually abandoned the hope of returning to Japan. After World War II, from 1952to 1970,  about  50,000  more  Japanese  immigrated  to  Brazil.  Japanese  immigrants  distancedthemselves from other members of the Brazilian society in the beginning of their settlement (DeCalvalho 2002). They are now well integrated into Brazilian society although they still maintaina unique identity (Tsuda 2000). The projected total population of Japanese Brazilians in 2006 is 1,941,810 although notall of them reside in Brazil (Kikumura-Yano 2002, p.146).  Starting in 1980s, many JapaneseBrazilians have migrated to  Japan,  as  a  result of severe recession in  Brazil  and acute laborshortage  in  Japan.  These  migrants  are  called  dekasseguis1,  and  most  of  them are from theBrazilian-born  generation.  This  dekassegui boom  has  reconnected  the  Japanese  Braziliancommunity with the contemporary Japanese society,  since many  dekasseguis travel back andforth between Brazil and Japan. In recent years, the Japanese Brazilian community has become increasingly heterogeneous1 The Japanese word dekassegui, which originally meant, “temporarily leaving one’s hometown to earn money,” isnow widely used to indicate South Americans of Japanese descent and their family members working in Japan.Sakuma, T.3both  ethnically  and  linguistically.  Members  include  the  original  immigrants  from  Japan,Brazilian-born descendants of different generations, non-Japanese spouses, and other Braziliansinterested in Japanese culture. Many descendants, especially those from younger generations, areracially mixed as a result of intermarriage. Although most of the members have at least someknowledge of Japanese and Portuguese, the majority is fluent in only one language. 3. Negotiation of Identity through languagesAs a  result  of  the  racial,  ethnic  and  linguistic  heterogeneity  of  the  community,  socialpositioning  and  power  relations  among  the  community  members  are  quite  dynamic.  Theirinterpersonal relations are constantly negotiated.   For example, while original immigrants areregarded as “experts” or “authorities” on the Japanese language and culture,  they can also beconsidered “novices” when the Portuguese language and Brazilian culture are concerned. Therest of the paper discusses how the negotiation and construction of identity can be carried outthrough languages. 3.1. Expertise in Japanese culture and languageThe first example comes from the local Japanese associations. In one of the associations, asmall  informal  class  for  Japanese  traditional  music  (minyoo) was  offered.  A racially-mixed,young Japanese Brazilian sansei (person of the second Brazilian-born generation) was teaching atraditional singing style to elderly isseis (original immigrants from Japan). The setting itself wasintriguing, in that the direction of knowledge transfer seemed to be reversed. Noting that theSakuma, T.4researcher was curious, one of the  isseis smiled and said in Japanese, “He is not  sansei, he issensei (teacher)!”  With  this  small  play  of  words,  he  humorously  declared  that  it  is  notinappropriate  for  the  original  immigrants  to  learn  traditional  culture  from a  Brazilian-borndescendant, because the descendant is indeed a teacher. However, traditional power relationships and attention to social hierarchy based upon factorssuch  as  age  are  not  absent  from these  contexts.  The  following  is  a  short  excerpt  from aninteraction observed during the minyoo session: (1) “Yattemi!”English (translation) Japanese (original)1 Teacher: Then, try it! jaa, yattemi!2 Student: Don’t say “Try it.” say “Please try it.” yattemi janakute, yattemite kudasai tteitte.This interaction took place when the teacher demonstrated a singing style to elderly immigrantsand asked one of them to try it. The young teacher, who learned Japanese as a second language,was very fluent in  Japanese,  but  did not demonstrate traditional  Japanese social  norms. Thestudent,  instead  of  doing  what  she  was  asked  to  do,  immediately  corrected  her  teacher’slanguage. The  correction  was  not  only  a  reflection  on  the  teacher’s  knowledge  of  the  Japaneselanguage, but also a reflection on his inability to give her the respect she deserved. The studentshould have been addressed in a respectful language because of her age, regardless of her statusas a student. It was a correction of the power relations of that specific context in which JapaneseSakuma, T.5traditional culture was being transferred. Later, while the teacher was out of sight, the studenttold the researcher that the teacher should learn to speak “appropriate” Japanese because he wasa performer of Japanese traditional music. 3.2. Racial joke and being BrazilianTraditional  Japanese  language  and  norms  are  not  always  dominant  in  the  Japanesecommunity. Many Japanese immigrants are also capable of employing Portuguese language andBrazilian  norms.  The  conversation  (2)-a  and  (2)-b  below occurred  at  the  dinner  table  in  aJapanese Brazilian household. Yamada is the father of the family and he is an elderly Japaneseimmigrant. Although he is in his seventies, he still works tirelessly at a farm as a consultant andhe  comes  back  to  home only  on  weekends.  Because  of  his  work  in  the  field,  his  skin  isconsiderably sunburnt. Yamada, his wife, his daughter (Yuka), his daughter’s fiancé (Sérgio), hisson  (Eduardo),  and  the  researcher  (Tomoko)  were  present  at  the  dinner  table  when  thisconversation took place. The first part of the sequence, (2)-a, starts with Yuka’s indistinguishable speech to Yamada(line  1).  From her  utterance  in  line 3,  “you are  preitinho (black)”,  it  is  assumed that  Yukamentioned something about his skin color. Yuka had not seen him for a while because he was outat his farm during weekdays. Yamada laughs at Yuka’s comment and starts narrating the storyabout him being addressed as negrão (big black fellow) by somebody at a tollgate on a highway(lines 4 to 14). The story generates a laughter in the room (line 13), that grows bigger whenEduardo suggests with gestures, that Yamada bare his chest and show his original skin color toSakuma, T.6the person who called him negrão (line 15). Yamada replies to Eduardo’s suggestion and says hewould have done so if he were 10 years younger (line 19). Yamada’s mocking performance ofshowing his chest and saying “do you call it negrão? no!” invites even greater laughter (line 20).Then, Sérgio, makes a comment about the conversation so far and says that the researcher, whois recording the conversation, has a lot of interesting data to study (line 21). (2) -a “negrão”English (translation) Portuguese (original)1 Yuka: <says something indistinguishable to Yamada> <says something indistinguishable toYamada> 2 Yamada: what? o que? 3 Yuka: you are pretinho (black) tá pretinho4 Yamada: haha <laughter> haha <laughter>5 <indistinguishable speech> somebody called me negrão (big black person)<indistinguishable speech> chamou de negrão ai oh 6 Yuka: <indistinguishable speech> haha <laughter><indistinguishable speech> haha <laughter>7 ((everyone laughs)) ((everyone laughs))8 Yamada: person who receives, you know, tolls, pessoa que recebe oh assim oh pedágios ai oh9 <gesture of receiving a toll> <gesture of receiving a toll> 10 Yamada: he received it like this, and said “have a nice trip, negrão!”ai recebeu tão, e “boa viagem negrão!”11 Sérgio: hahaha! <laughter> hahaha! <laughter>12 Yamada: hahaha! <laughter> hahaha! <laughter>13 ((everyone laughs)) ((everyone laughs))14 Yamada: <indistinguishable speech> I’m burnt<indistinguishable speech> queimado15 Eduardo: I think <make a gesture of baring chest, with indistinguishable speech> eu acho que <make a gesture of baring chest, with indistinguishable speech>16 Yuka: take off your cloths to take a bath? tirar ropa para tomar banho?17 Yamada: no não18 ((everyone laughs)) ((everyone laughs))19 Yamada: I almost did. if I were 10 years, you quase fazer. se fosse 10 anos assim oSakuma, T.7know, younger, open door <with gesture of opening his shirt to bare his chest> h novo ai. abre porta <with gesture of opening his shirt to bare his chest>20 Yamada: “is it called negrão? no!” “esse chamar-se negrão? não!”21 ((everyone bursts out laughing)) ((everyone bursts out laughing))22 Sérgio: <to the researcher, knowing this conversation is  recorded> Tomoko hasa lot of data to study. <to the researcher, knowing this conversation is recorded > Tomoko tembastante material para estudar23 ((everyone continues laughing loudly))((everyone continues laughing loudly))In the next part, which is omitted here, participants are joking about how the researcher would present this audio-recording in the United States, as a part of her doctral dissertation. The conversation continues on to (2)-b. In line 31, Eduardo mentiones that what the researcher is recording isall “nonsence”. He then links the “nonsence” to the Brazilian nation, by saying that Brazil won’tadvance because nobody takes anything seriously (line 33). At this point, it almost appears that the topic of the conversation has completely shifted form Yamada’s skin color to Brazilian humor.However, in line 35, Yamda returnes to his skin color story by saying “so, it happened on Monday,” and concludes that “now I am a real Brazilian”. (2)-b “brasileiro everdade” 31 Eduardo: <referring to the conversations that the researcher has been recording>nonsence stuff only<referring to the conversations that the researcher has been recording>só besteira32 Yuka: nonsence stuff only só besteira33 Eduardo: because of this, Brazil won’t advance. nobody speaks anything serious.por isso que o Brasil não vai para frente. não fala nada sério. 34 ((everyone laughs)) ((everyone laughs))35 Yamada: so,  it happened on Monday. now I’m a real Brazilian. ai oh, segunda feira acontesse assim.agora brasileiro everdade36 ((everyone laughs again)) ((everyone laughs again))In  this  sequence,  Yamada  successfully  tells  a  humorous  story  despite  his  linguisticSakuma, T.8limitations. Frequent use of fillers such as “ai”, “oh” and “assim” shows Yamada’s challenge inspeaking Portuguese. Nonetheless, his communicative strategies such as gestures (lines 9 and 19)and a loud voice help him to express himself to Portuguese speakers. More importantly, for thissequence, other participants of the conversation are actively involved in Yamada’s story telling.For  example,  Eduardo makes a suggestion of showing the bare chest  with gesture (line 15).Yamada repeats Eduardo’s gesture (line 19), and adds his own expression, “is it called negrão? no!” (line 20). The repetition of the gesture and addition of Yamada’s own sentence shows that thehumor is co-constructed. In this sequence, there appares to be an ideology that links Brazilian with dark skin color, asis expressed in Yamada’s remark, “Now I am real  Brazilian” (line 35).  In  reality,  of course,Yamada’s dark skin color comes from years of work in farms. During a personal interview withhim, it  was revealed that he is highly proud of his job as a consultant in the farm. Japaneseimmigrants are known by their contribution to the progress of agriculture in Brazil (Tsuda 2000),and Yamada believes that  he  also played a role in it.  Thus,  although the dark skin color  isassociated with being “Brazilian” in this specific sequence, in other context, Yamada’s suntannedskin can be understood as an emblem that shows his history as a Japanese immigrant. Another ideology constructed in this sequence is the belief that links Brazilians with humor.As mentioned above, Eduardo expresses that “nobody speaks anything serious” and that is why“Brazil won’t advance” (line 33). It appears to be a negative evaluation of Brazilian humor andBrazil as a nation. However, it  is clear that the humor is playing a crucial rule in this familyconversation. Indeed,  Eduardo’s statement  itself is a  part  of  that humorous conversation thatSakuma, T.9contributes  to  the  bond  of  the  family.  When  Eduardo  links  Brazil  with  humor,  Yamada  isimplicitly included as a member of Brazilian society as he initiated this humorous interaction. 4. ConclusionThis paper has illustrated how ethnic and national identities are constructed in a JapaneseBrazilian community. Examples from two settings, both involving interactions between elderlyimmigrants and the descendants are presented. The first  case took place during a traditionalmusic class.  An elderly immigrant negotiated her social position through her expertise in theJapanese language. The second interaction took place in a Japanese Brazilian household. There,an immigrant and his family members co-constructed the “Brazilian” side of the immigrant’sidentity.  Although  the  identities  discussed  in  these  two  contexts  may  seem  to  represent  adichotomy (i.e. either Japanese or Brazilian), the Japanese Brazilian immigrants generally havemultiple layers of identities. Being a member of a Japanese community and being a member of aBrazilian  community  do  not  necessarily  conflict.  Just  like  Yamada’s  suntanned  skin  can  beinterpreted  as  that  of  “Brazilian”  or  that  of  “Japanese  immigrant  (who  is  an  expert  ofagriculture)”, a single feature can be associated with different ethnic or national identities. As thedata  have  shown,  their  identities  are  locally  co-constructed  through  interactions,  and  theimmigrants  can actively highlight  different  identities  at  different  times.  This  paper  has  alsoexamined the language ideologies of the community. In the first example, traditional norms inthe Japanese language are understood as appropriate in the context of performing a traditionalJapanese culture.  In the second case,  use of humor is  linked with Brazilian national identity.Sakuma, T.10Again, these language ideologies are locally produced through interactions. Sakuma, T.115. ReferenceBell, A. (1984). Language style as audience design. Language in Society, 13 (2), 145-204.De Carvalho,  D. (2002).  Migrants  and identity  in  Japan  and Brazil:  the Nikkeijin.  London:RoutledgeCurzon.Eckert,  P.,  & Rickford,  J.  R.  (Eds.).  (2001).  Style and sociolinguistic  variation.  Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.Irvine,  J.  T.  (2001).  "Style"  as  distinctiveness:  The  culture  and  ideology  of  linguisticdifferentiation. In P. Eckert & J. R. Rickford (Eds.),  Style and sociolinguistic variation(pp. 21-43). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Kikumura-Yano, A. (Ed.). (2002).  Encyclopedia of Japanese descendants in the Americas : anillustrated history of the Nikkei. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.Le Page, R. B.,  & Tabouret-Keller,  A. (1985).  Acts of  identity.  Creole-based approaches tolanguage and ethnicity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Schieffelin, B. B., Woolard, K. A., & Kroskrity, P. V. (1998). Language ideologies : practice andtheory: Oxford University Press.Schilling-Estes,  N. (1998).  Investigating ‘self-conscious’ speech:  The performance register  inOcracoke English. Language in Society, 27, 53-83.Silverstein, M. (1979). Language structure and linguistic ideology. In Paul R. Clyne, W. F. Hanks& C. L. Hofbauer (Eds.), The elements: A parasession on linguistic units and levels (pp.193-247). Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Tsuda, T. (2000). The Benefits of Being Minority:The Ethnic Status of the Japanese-Brazilians inBrazil  [Electronic  Version].  Center  for  Comparative  Immigration  Studies.  WorkingPapers. Paper wrkg21. http://repositories.cdlib.org/ccis/papers/wrkg21.Woolard, K. A., & Schieffelin, B. (1994). Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology,23, 55-82.Sakuma, T.12

Being "Japanese" in Latin America: Language and Identity of Japanese Immigrants in Brazil

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Being "Japanese" in Latin America: Language and Identity of Japanese Immigrants in Brazil

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