Being 'hafu' on/offline: discursive constructions of mixedroots Japanese identities in Facebook group interactions and offline personal narratives

本研究探讨了“哈夫”身份是如何通过线下和线上交流构建的。“Hafu”（来自英语单词“half”）是一个标签，用来指父母是日本人，父母是其他国籍/种族的人。这个词被认为是有问题的，因为它将种族、文化和语言遗产混为一谈，并将混血日本人置于“纯”日本人之下。尽管如此，许多混血日本人还是称自己为“混血儿”，就像在facebook群“混血儿”和“混血儿日本人”中看到的那样。在过去的十年中出现了许多这样的团体，为全球各地的“混血儿”之间的接触创造了前所未有的机会，并通过共同的“混血儿”身份将不同背景的日本人聚集在一起。拥有超过6000名成员和频繁的日常互动，涉及多语言实践，这两个facebook群组似乎是动态和有意义的身份和社区建设网站。本研究考虑了“哈夫”身份在语言和互动中的建构，并通过考察线上建构的身份如何反映在Facebook用户的线下叙述中，探讨了线上和线下交流之间的相互关系。最后，分析将关注与种族，文化和语言相关的意识形态是否可能在数字环境中的传播中表现出来并得到促进。

This research examines how 'hafu' identities areconstructed through offline and online communication.'Hafu' (based on the English word 'half') is a label used torefer to individuals with a Japanese parent and a parent ofanother nationality/ethnicity. The term is consideredproblematic as it conflates ethnic, cultural and linguisticheritage, and positions mixed-Japanese people as inferiorto the 'pure' Japanese. Despite this, many mixed-Japaneserefer to themselves as 'hafu', as can be seen in Facebookgroups 'Hafu aru' and 'Hafu Japanese'. Many such groupshave emerged over the past decade, creatingunprecedented opportunities for contact between 'hafus'across the globe, and bringing together mixed-Japanesepeople of diverse backgrounds through a shared 'hafu'identity. With over 6,000 members and frequent dailyinteractions involving multilingual practices, both Facebookgroups appear to be dynamic and meaningful sites ofidentity and community construction. This study considershow 'hafu' identities are constructed in language andinteraction, and explores the interrelations between onlineand offline communication by examining how the identitiesconstructed online are reflected in the Facebook users'offline narratives. Finally, the analysis will focus onwhether ideologies related to ethnicity, culture andlanguage might be manifested in and promoted viacommunication in digital environments.