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Part of
Questioning and Answering Practices across Contexts and Cultures
Edited by Cornelia Ilie
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 323] 2021
► pp. 285–312

Question–answer sequences in Japanese first encounters

Wishing to get to know new persons vs. dispreferred behavior of asking questions

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The aim of this investigation is to examine the relationship between information-eliciting questions and their corresponding answers that occur in first encounters between male interlocutors in a Japanese semi-formal academic context. This topic acquires a special significance in the context of Japanese culture, where asking questions is regarded as dispreferred verbal behavior. Five types of constraints on initiating question-based conversations in a Japanese social-cultural context have been identified: (i) questions may compel the recipient to speak; (ii) questions may invade the recipient’s personal territory; (iii) questions may reveal conflict between interlocutors; (iv) questions may interrupt someone’s ongoing talk; and (v) questions may reveal the respondent’s inability to answer. The analysis points to a paradox regarding the discursive behaviour of Japanese males: they show a desire to get acquainted with each other, while at the same time they are reluctant to ask questions which might cause uncomfortable feelings.

Keywords: question, answer, sociocultural background, Japanese, male, first encounters, dispreferred behavior, personal territory, social etiquette
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Social conversation and questions in Japanese
  • 4.Questions in Japanese discourse: Why are they dispreferred?
    • 4.1Asking questions may compel the question recipient to speak
    • 4.2Asking questions may invade personal territory
    • 4.3Asking questions may generate or reveal conflict between interlocutors
    • 4.4Asking questions may interrupt the interlocutor’s ongoing talk
    • 4.5Asking questions may reveal the interlocutor’s inability to answer
  • 5.Data and methodology
    • 5.1Data
    • 5.2Method
  • 6.Findings and discussion
    • 6.1Asking questions may compel the question recipient to speak
    • 6.2Asking questions may invade personal territory
    • 6.3Asking questions may create or reveal a conflict between participants
    • 6.4Asking questions may interrupt the interlocutor’s ongoing talk
    • 6.5Asking a question may reveal the interlocutors’ inability to answer
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 26 July 2021
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https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.323.10shi
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