grantor:
University of TorontoThe Kubo Commune was established in 1926 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, by Japanese immigrants. Approximately ninety members live together and use solely Japanese, the language of the first-generation immigrants, as the means of communication. The commune people do not mix their Japanese with Portuguese, the official language of Brazil. Children of the commune grow up with no knowledge of Portuguese until they reach the school age of seven. The Japanese language is a manifestation of their ideology, Nohon-shugi or "Agriculture-First Principle." This ideology teaches the understanding of, and living with, nature. Because of this ideology they choose to stay in agricultural cultivation areas and maintain a social boundary between Japanese-Brazilians and non-Japanese Brazilians. Although they have kept Japanese as their dominant language, their speech behaviour, especially that of women, is different from that of Japanese in Japan. The women's speech behaviour, called Arai Kotoba or the sincere speech style, is a representation of the Nohon-shugi ideology. Although men respect this ideology, they try to speak with the speech behaviour of Japanese in Japan. This is because the gender role of men is to protect the commune from outsiders. Thus, men imitate the speech behaviour of outsiders in order to keep up the appearance of the commune to outsiders who do not understand the significance of Arai Kotoba. This thesis contributes to theories of language choice in bi- or multi-lingual societies. In also explores language from the point of view of the complex, dynamic, conceptions of the speakers, that is, how speakers see themselves in relation to outsiders within the context of socio-economic and cultural power.Ph.D
