From a sociocultural and interactional perspective, this study examines the ethnic authenticity negotiation by Janet, a “fourth-generation Japanese” and a graduate of Japanese Saturday School (JSS) in Los Angeles, California. In particular, analytical concepts, “transvocality” and “translocality,” are introduced to provide a framework to understand her life-story narrative by attending to shifting voice, place, and time. I analyze the content and dialogic structure of Janet’s life-story from four different angles: 1) her “there and then” positioning within her narrative about JSS; 2) Janet’s reflection of “here and now” self with the researcher at the interview context; 3) ethnic authenticity negotiation between Janet and her partner Bob in a conversation in front of the researcher; 4) the implicit and explicit impact of changing racialized/ethnicized geography on Janet’s life-story. The analyses showed how the meanings of the category “Japanese” differ in each local context, while they are interconnected.
Ethnic identity is not essential but interactionally negotiated across time, place, and contexts. A researcher’s use of plural categories is not a solution as long as the underlying view of essentialism remains in each category. This paper demonstrates multiple analytical angles to approach an identity category “Japanese” to capture its contextual and alterable nature.
