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Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 34:3 (2024) ► pp.319–346

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Interactional and categorial analyses of identity construction in the talk of female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals in Japan

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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 25 May 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.20066.fuk
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.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous studies on transgender identities
  • 3.Gender, categories, and identities in CA and MCA research
  • 4.Data, methods, and research questions
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Self-introduction as an FtM transgender person
    • 5.2Self-introduction with a catchphrase 1: “Previous female”
    • 5.3Storytelling: Recalling the past
    • 5.4Self-introduction with a catchphrase 2: “My body is female, my heart is male”
    • 5.5Self-identification in response to clarification request
    • 5.6Self-identification in response to a ‘gender-free’ question
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (36)
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Fukuda, Chie
2024. Female-to-male (FtM) transgender individuals’ multimodal and interactional practices in Japanese. Journal of Japanese Linguistics 40:1 ► pp. 59 ff. DOI logo

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