Abstract
A pattern of communication prevailing in one age reflects the world outlock or spirit of that age. We cannot assume that speech act as one pattern of oral communication has been universal throughout man's history.
Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of the greatest educators in the Meiji period, pointed out that he could never find the Japanese equivalent to “speech” in English, and stressed that the art of public speaking be cultivated for the development of modern democracy in Japan.
The pattern of oral communication in which a speaker addressed a large crowd was imported to Japan from China in ancient times. This pattern of communication, however, became diversified under the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism, both of which dominated Japan's climate. The practice of reciting passages of classic texts, for example, was the pattern of communication unique to Japan deriving from Confucianism. The common method of teaching at Japanese Buddhist temples was for a teacher-priest and a few of his studentdisciples to enact a play concerning the doctrine of Buddhism in the question-and-answer form before other student-disciples. It was something like a panel discussion of today.
In the medieval age of Japan the pattern of communication called Sekkyo or Sekkyo-bushi in which a preacher recited, sang melodiously, or acted out Buddhist stories before a large crowd, was developed. In order to distinguish between such Sekkyo or Sekkyo-bushi and “speech”, the author proposes to introduce a new concept, “mass-logue”.
Mass-logue, defined as the pattern of oral communication in which one speaker addresses a large crowd of people, has the following three characteristcs :
(1) Mass-logue must not have elements other than those those expressed only by words. In other words, it must exclude such elements as singing and dancing.
(2) Mass-logue is one-time communication. In other words, it is conceived and performed only once by the speaker and is never repeated in exactly the same form.
(3) Mass-logue is one-way communication.
The author believes that a comparison between mass-logue as an ideal type and Sekkyo and Kodan as historical facts will lead to a fresh approach to analysis of some aspects of the behavioral pattern of the Japanese people.
