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Emancipatory Pragmatics
Innovative approaches to pragmatics incorporating the concept of “ba”
Editor
e-Book – Open Access 
ISBN 9789027244321
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.
[Culture and Language Use, 24] 2025. xiv, 384 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 2 December 2025
Published online on 2 December 2025
© John Benjamins
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.
Table of Contents
- List of figures | pp. vii–x
- List of tables | pp. xi–xii
- Acknowledgements | pp. xiii–xiv
- IntroductionScott Saft and William F. Hanks | pp. 1–33
- Part 1. Theoretical considerations
- Ba pragmatics: A paradigm complementary to the Western theory of politenessSachiko Ide | pp. 36–67
- Japanese as a ba-oriented and predicate-centered language: Non-western perspectives for the representation of the worldYoko Fujii | pp. 68–96
- The process of speech emergence in dialogue: Perspectives from Eastern philosophyKiyoshi Kawahara | pp. 97–118
- Part 2. Ba at the grammar level
- The neutral -ta style in Korean: (Inter)subjectivity and ba theoryMyung-Hee Kim | pp. 120–143
- Differential manifestations of the impact of ba on grammar: Case studies from Japanese and KoreanKaoru Horie, Kangwon Lee and Jaehyun Lee | pp. 144–168
- Part 3. Ba at the discourse level
- The emergence of affect through resonance and “thin laughter”: An interpretation from the ba perspectiveRisako Ide | pp. 170–195
- The fun of repeating: Using ba theory to explore how Japanese speakers jointly engage in conversational playfulnessSaeko Machi | pp. 196–226
- Part 4. Ba through a comparative lens
- Who is telling the story? A ba based analysis of a Japanese children’s picture bookKeiko Naruoka | pp. 228–248
- Deixis and self-reference: A comparison between Indo-European and East Asian languages, in EP’s frameworkFederica Da Milano | pp. 249–274
- Articulation of self in Japanese and English: An interpretation based on the concept of bashoKishiko Ueno | pp. 275–298
- Part 5. Ba across languages and cultures
- Empathy and vocatives in Chinese: From the perspective of ba pragmaticsYansheng Mao and Yue Zhao | pp. 300–324
- Emancipatory Pragmatics and the application of the concept of ba to an indigenous language and culture: The case of HawaiianScott Saft | pp. 325–346
- Situating self and others in task-based interaction: A cross-linguistic study through ba theoryYoko Fujii, Myung-Hee Kim, Natthaporn Panpothong, Siriporn Phakdeephasook, Yusuke Mochizuki and Yoko Kurogo | pp. 347–380
- Index | pp. 381–384