Discourse, Gender and Shifting Identities in Japan

'Well-written in concise and accessible style, this book serves not only as a must-read for scholars in gender studies, but also as a valuable reference for those interested in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse analysis, and Japanese studies.' - Ke Zhang, Faculty of Foreign Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, China

'This first volume in the planned series, taken as a whole, provides a well-constructed, well-written window into the world of life transitions as mirrored in speech and is a welcome addition to the literature.' - Nanette Gottlieb, Emeritus Professor, School of Languages and Cultures, University of Queensland, Australia

'The book makes us rethink important questions about what should be considered age grading in language use and how it can be investigated, although these issues are not directly discussed in the book. Furthermore, the book compellingly demonstrates that, in order to understand the change in one's language use over time, it is inadequate to examine the use of a few (phonological or grammatical) variables in isolation, and that one needs to consider language use at the discourse-pragmatic level.' - Shigeko Okamoto, Emeritus Professor, Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics, University of California, USA