Culture and Language Use – serie

Emancipatory Pragmatics represents a unique contribution to the field of pragmatics. Most research in the field has focused on English and other Western languages, but the study of Japanese and other non-Western languages, as is done in this volume, has led to a broader understanding of language use. Here, thirteen articles each break new ground by discussing the application of ba theory to pragmatics research. Ba and basho, which are Japanese terms often translated as “field” or “context”, are central to expanding the theory of pragmatics to explain features not only of non-Western languages, but of all languages. By presenting an introduction to the perspective of Emancipatory Pragmatics, and discussing ba theory in detail, it becomes obvious that this is an innovative approach to questions relevant for the study of all languages. Thus, it is useful both for students new to the field, as well as for seasoned researchers.