The Department of Japanese Studies presents

J-talks @ Sydney Uni

Script Variation in Contemporary Japan
Dr Tamaki Mihic

Abstract

When learning Japanese, students are usually given a fixed explanation for how to use each of the four main scripts in the language (hiragana, katakana, kanji and romaji). For example, they are told that katakana is for expressing loanwords, and that kanji is used for “content words”. However, actual script use in contemporary Japan often deviates from these accepted “rules”, which can cause confusion in Japanese learners.

In this talk, Dr Mihic will introduce recent research in this area and provide real-life examples from contexts such as workplace emails, advertising and literature.

About the speaker

Dr Tamaki Mihic is a comparatist, working across contemporary texts in Japanese, English, French and Spanish. My first book examined the global literary response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, with a focus on how the Japanese national brand and identity changed after this triple disaster.

RSVP

Join online via Zoom.

For more information, contact: Dr Matthew Shores – matthew.shores@sydney.edu.au

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