Ainu Research Mia
RESEARCH OUTLINE
Candidate: Mukaddam Khaitova
Provisional research title:
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AMONG INDIGENOUS MINORITY NATION: THE CASE OF THE AINU PEOPLE IN JAPAN
Background
The Ainu people represent the indigenous population of Hokkaido in Japan and in the past of the Sakhalin in Russia. Recent studies have identified the unfavourable consequences that the repudiation of the presence of the Ainu in modern Japan has had on their identity and culture (Minami 2009; Lewallen 2006). Further, the imbalance in the sense of belonging (Krauss 1992; Crystal 2000; Romaine 2007) is intensified by the fact that Ainu infants are provided with Japanese names to facilitate their academic and employment opportunities (Maher 2001) and further children do not have access to their language at schools. Hence, the minority community of the Ainu people can be considered discriminated against in the Japanese society (Levin 2001; Walker 2001; Maher 2001).
Research objectives The core research question will be: ‘What is the correlation of adapting names in Ainu community and loss of identity among young people expressed through feeling of embarrassment for their nationality and non-usage of their language?’ More specifically, I propose to analyse the following subsets of questions:
1. What techniques does the Japanese government and society use to explicitly and implicitly discriminate against the Ainu, especially in terms of language? Are there parallels between this and the Orientalist concept of ‘othering’? If yes, what are they?
2. Conversely, what are the resistance techniques the Ainu people are using? How do they adapt, negotiate, and preserve their identity? What is the role of the language and naming practices as mark of identity?
3. What about the Ainu communities in other countries, such as Russia? How do they view themselves in relation to the Ainu of Japan? Is their position vis-a-vis the state better? Are there cultural, political, and trade ties?
Theoretical Framework
Candidate: Mukaddam Khaitova
Provisional research title:
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AMONG INDIGENOUS MINORITY NATION: THE CASE OF THE AINU PEOPLE IN JAPAN
Background
The Ainu people represent the indigenous population of Hokkaido in Japan and in the past of the Sakhalin in Russia. Recent studies have identified the unfavourable consequences that the repudiation of the presence of the Ainu in modern Japan has had on their identity and culture (Minami 2009; Lewallen 2006). Further, the imbalance in the sense of belonging (Krauss 1992; Crystal 2000; Romaine 2007) is intensified by the fact that Ainu infants are provided with Japanese names to facilitate their academic and employment opportunities (Maher 2001) and further children do not have access to their language at schools. Hence, the minority community of the Ainu people can be considered discriminated against in the Japanese society (Levin 2001; Walker 2001; Maher 2001).
Research objectives The core research question will be: ‘What is the correlation of adapting names in Ainu community and loss of identity among young people expressed through feeling of embarrassment for their nationality and non-usage of their language?’ More specifically, I propose to analyse the following subsets of questions:
1. What techniques does the Japanese government and society use to explicitly and implicitly discriminate against the Ainu, especially in terms of language? Are there parallels between this and the Orientalist concept of ‘othering’? If yes, what are they?
2. Conversely, what are the resistance techniques the Ainu people are using? How do they adapt, negotiate, and preserve their identity? What is the role of the language and naming practices as mark of identity?
3. What about the Ainu communities in other countries, such as Russia? How do they view themselves in relation to the Ainu of Japan? Is their position vis-a-vis the state better? Are there cultural, political, and trade ties?
Theoretical Framework
References: Aylward 2007, 2009 Battiste 2000 Crystal, D. (2000) Language Death. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. Ishida, S Krauss, M . (1992) ‘The world’s languages in crisis’, Language, 68(1), 1-42. Levin, M . (2001) ‘Essential commodities and racial justice: Using constitutional protection of Japan’s indigenous Ainu people to inform understanding of the United States and Japan’, Journal of Interna- Lewallen, A. (2006) “Hands that Never Rest”: Ainu Women, Cultural Revival, and Indigenous Politics in Japan. University of M ichigan. Maher 2001, 2005 Matsuda Minami,M.(2009)Images of the Ainu: Identities and Histories of Japan’s Indigenous People.Saarbrucken, Germany:VDM Verlag Dr.Mueller. Walker,B.(2001)TheConquest of Ainu Lands:Ecologyand Culturein JapaneseExpansion,1590-1800.