Representation of sexual minorities in the Japanese media

Practice of “renaming” and ideological strategies

Abstract

　This study is positioned at the intersection of the philosophical and linguistic arenas multimodally analyzing para/linguistic information. In this study, I explore the representation of sexual minorities in the Japanese media, including variety shows and kids’ cartoon shows. Based on the theories of Judith Butler and Michel Foucault, I examine features of representations of sexuality, dynamically produced power, and ideologies utilizing discourse analysis. My research questions are: 1) How is the relevance of representations revealed within different types of shows? and 2) How do ideological strategies work on representations and how is the “subversion” of representations possible? As a result of the analysis, I revealed that although there are similarities within different types of media, new (non/fictional) characters are making changes to representations and these changes generate “subversion” even though seemingly stable representations are produced from different (and multilayered) ideological strategies.