Making of Monolingual Japan ─ Language Ideology and Japanese Modernity

While researching the languages of Japan as part of the country's history of thought, Heinrich (Dokkyo U., Japan) discovered a small branch of linguistics in Japan that deals with problems of national language. He has delved into that area for some years now, and here explores not just the problems of a national language in Japan, but also the problems caused by the idea of a national language. His topics include the call of Mori Rinori to replace Japanese, the linguistic assimilation of Ryukuyuans and Ainu, the most beautiful language in the world, and language ideology as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Distributed in the US by UTP Distribution. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Patrick Heinrich is an associate professor at Dokkyo University, Japan. His research interests focus on language ideology, language endangerment, history of linguistics, and social aspects of foreign language learning. Recent publications include Higashi ajia ni okeru gengo fukk? [Language Revitalization in East Asia] (co-edited with Shin Matsuo, Sangensha 2010), Language Life in Japan (co-edited with Christian Galan, Routledge, 2011), and Mesase! Ry?ky? shogo no iji [In Pursuit of Ryukyuan Language Maintenance] (co-edited with Michinori Shimoji, CoCo Shuppan 2011). He is currently co-editing the Handbook of Ryukyuan Languages.