The Formation of Discourses Regarding “Konketsu”/“Hafu” and the Social Consequences:

Critical Use of “Racial Formation” and “Articulation” Theories

Abstract

Discourses in public policy, media, as well as academia, have tended to ignore people commonly called hafu (half) or konketsu (mixed blood), who are unclassifiable within the Japanese/foreigner binary. However, as this article demonstrates, historical circumstances have helped bring their existence to the fore, producing various discourses and images associated with them.

Drawing on the theory of racial formation (Omi and Winant), this study analyzes the formation of discourses regarding konketsu and hafu in postwar Japan, by distinguishing four periods and their respective contextual dimensions. Also, the social consequences brought about by these discourses are discussed based on articulation theory. The konketsu discourse reconstructed in the first period (1945 to 1960s) is transformed into a racialized and gendered discourse on hafu in the second period (1970s to 1980s). In the third period (1990s to 2000s), advocacy movements emerged using the concept of daburu (double), although they failed to fully represent the experiences of those concerned. In the fourth period (mid-2000s to present), the hafu discourse has considerably changed under neoliberalism and nationalism and has been rearticulated by those who identify themselves as hafu. While this study finds a certain continuity in structures of discrimination directed against hafu or konketsu throughout the evolution of discursive formations, it also shows how the movements of those concerned are starting to bring these structures to light.