Situated Meaning

Situated Meaning adds a new dimension, both literal and metaphoric, to our understanding of Japan. The essays in this volume leave the vertical axis of hierarchy and subordination--an organizing trope in much of the literature on Japan--and focus instead on the horizontal, interpreting a wide range of cultural practices and orientations in terms of such relational concepts as uchi (inside) and soto (outside). Evolving from a shared theoretical focus, the essays show that in Japan the directional orientations inside and outside are specifically linked to another set of meanings, denoting self and society. After Donald L. Brenneis's foreword, Jane M. Bachnik, Charles J. Quinn, Jr., Patricia J. Wetzel, Nancy R. Rosenberger, and Robert J. Sukle discuss Indexing Self and Social Context. Failure to Index: Boundary Disintegration and Social Breakdown is the topic of Dorinne K. Kondo, Matthews M. Hamabata, Michael S. Molasky, and Jane Bachnik. Finally, Charles Quinn explores Language as a Form of Life.Bachnik, Jane M. is the author of 'Situated Meaning' with ISBN 9780691069654 and ISBN 0691069654.