Ett ord säger mer än tusen meningar. En studie i yakuwarigos förhållande till visuellt material.

Abstract

This thesis examines and attempts to develop the theory of yakuwarigo as introduced by Kinsui (2003) by integrating both the visual and linguistic aspects of characters found in manga. We seek answers to what extent Japanese native speakers are capable of matching linguistic and visual characteristics of characters in manga. As well as whether they are consciously aware of how yakuwarigo affects their choices. Furthermore, it aims to present a framework capable of classifying, and categorizing different types of characters by their language use. This is accomplished by analyzing the motivation behind choices, by natives, whom were asked in a survey to match lines and artwork of characters in manga to form pairs. It is found that many natives share a common visualization of the character after reading its lines. However, this image does not necessarily match the design of the character who utters them in the source material of the survey. Many of the native speakers identify what Kinsui calls bushi-go ‘samurai language’, but they apply it to a wide range of different characters and their language usage. This fact plays an important role in the framework suggested in this thesis.