Atomic Bomb Survivor Testimonies as Sociolinguistic Data: An Approach from Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This study takes testimonies from hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) as data, to perform a discourse analysis of 1) the structure of testimonies and 2) how speakers identities and viewpoints are presented therein. The testimonies examined proved to be compatible with Labovs framework of Abstract, Orientation, Complication, Internal Evaluation, and External Evaluation. Abstract and Orientation mainly appeared at the beginning, whereas External Evaluation was seen at the end, in closing. Moreover, narrators reinterpret the meaning of their experiences in their own ways, including their own value judgments from their own social and personal points of view. We expand Labovs framework by relating this aspect of value judgment to anthropological, psychological, and sociological frameworks of identity.

??
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????