Interactional and categorial analyses of identity construction in the talk of female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals in Japan
ChieFukuda
Independent researcher
Abstract
This study explores the identity construction of female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals, utilizing membership categorization analysis and multimodal conversation analysis. ‘Identity’ in this study indicates a person’s display of category membership or ascription to category membership, which emerges in social actions. The study illustrates how participants make categories and associated features visible in their social actions through the use of multimodal resources. In particular, the study focuses on the participants’ orientation to Pn-adequate devices, particularly gender as a binary. The analysis shows that the participants’ orientation to gender ideologies, such as gender’s Pn-adequacy, plays a significant role in how they construct their FtM transgender identities.
This study explores identity construction of female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals, utilizing membership categorization analysis and multimodal conversation analysis. In this study, ‘identity’ is a person’s “display of, or ascription to, membership of some feature-rich category,” made sequentially relevant to interactional business/social actions, and visible in the use of resources such as the structures of conversation (Antaki and Widdicombe 1998, 2–3). Following this definition, the study illustrates how participants use categories, their features, and multimodal resources (e.g. interactional features, gestures) to accomplish social actions through which identities emerge.
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