Faceted I
November 23, 2003 10:01 PM
Joi discusses the benefit to faceted identity of multiple words for "I" in Japanese. I would tend to agree.
Joi Ito’s Web: Me, myself and I:In Japan, we have many pronouns for “I”. I use ore when I want to be casual and assertive. I use boku when I am casual and humble. I use watakushiwhen I am formal and assertive, and I use watashi when I am formal but less assertive. My theory is that Japanese can more easily navigate and deal with the multi-faceted identity that danah talks about in her paper because we have so many names for ourselves.
