Abstract to be inserted here
So I think the first thing we should probably do is make it clear what those works are, so that everyone who enters the discussion will have the chance to refer to them for background. The works that I have come across and will have to pull off my shelf and reacquaint myself with are:
If we are going to discuss linguistic imperialism, I think we need to formulate a definitional framework using the references and our own ideas. We may not be able to agree on a single definition, but still we should clearly delineate a range of such defintions and agree on the terminology we will use to distinguish between them. According to The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition (1992), imperialism is the "policy of extending a nation's authority ... by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations." Linguistic imperialism, of course, is a metaphorical extension of this core meaning. The extension could proceed in at least two different directions:
The policy of extending a nation's linguistic authority by means of undue economic and political influence. This could be total replacement of one language with a dominant language or a monopoly in the establishment of linguistic standards for a specific language.
The policy of extending a nation's authority by means of undue linguistic influence. What kind of authority? Political? Economic?
In other words, linguistic control could be the purpose, or it could be the means. Furthermore, if it is to be a policy, intention would seem to be a necessary element.
The global expansion of English has earned it the title of "imperialist language par excellence of the past two centuries" (Phillipson, 1988). But what are the facts and figures? Are there references that cite the facts and figures to give quantitative evidence that English is expanding and at what rate? How many Japanese speakers of English, for instance, are there in Japan now? How many were there in the past? How many people in Japan are actively studying the English language? How many hours a week are they studying? Are they studying it because they want to, is it a required school subject for them, are they being pressured by their company to study the language?
Are there other globally expanding languages? Japanese, perhaps? Where are they expanding, both geographically and in terms of language domains? Australia, in what domains? And at what rate and how? Are these languages expanding at the expense of other language which are going into decline? What languages? At what rate are they declining and why? What is the cultural, political, and economic impact of this pattern of expanding and declining languages?
The context we wish to examine in this discussion, of course, is the Japanese one, particularly the situation with gairaigo. Is the recent influx of foreign loan words, 90% of which come from English (Blair, 1997), the product of linguistic imperialism. Frankly, the relationship between England, America, and Japan does not fit the characterization of presented in Phillipson (1988). Any possible attempt at domination through religion along the lines of Catholicism and Spanish or Islam and Arabic failed in the early Edo era (16xx-18xx). Domination through technology might have been a factor in the Meiji era () and at the end of World War II. Now, however, Japan is world-class competitor in fields of economics and technology. While English is an important subject of study in Japan, it is not the language of instruction or government. This is not to deny that English appears on signs, computer screens, and in the printed media; it does, associated with internationalization, and is seen as prestigious. It does not dominate in any of these domains, however. The lingering influence of Chinese--47.5% of the lexical inventory (Blair, 1997)--still surpasses that of English. Perhaps Chinese would be a better candidate, in a historical perspective, for linguistic imperialism in the Japanese context. Having arrived together with Chinese religion (Confusianism and Buddhism) and technology.
You ask if there are areas in which English can express things impossible to say in Japanese and give the example of sexual harassment. This conjecture fails to take into account the ample resources and creativity that is present in any language. Though the importation of foreign loadwords along with new products and concepts from abroad is very common, there is no need to do so. There are several ways this could be done. Let's take your example of sexual harassment. (And here I would invite other, particularly native speakers of Japanese, to contribute their own candidates for a more Japanese coinage for this concept.)
First, we could simply and arbitrarily create a new Japanese word for the concept. This, of course, is usually a last resort. String any permissible combination of kana together (ie. no n' at the beginning) and you have a new word, even if there are homonyms already in the language.
Or (if you have strong feelings about and's, or's, and but's at the beginnings of sentences, please let Judy Yoneoka <> know about them for her study on the subject) an already existing Japanese word's meaning could be expanded to encompass the new concept. Perhaps the term chi-kan could be expanded to include emotional as well as physical abuse. If that seems unsatisfactory, how about adding a morpheme (kanji) to the beginning of chi-kan to make the distinction clear--jo-chi-kan [emotional chi-kan].
Perhaps there is even a historical antecedant here. The kan of chi-kan is the same character as the kan for an early Chinese dynasty. Where did the word and concept of chi-kan come from? Were there chi-kans before trains became the dominant mode of transportation in Japan? Is this a concept that came from China long ago? And how about ro-shutsu-kyo? Did this deviant behavior come ashore to Japan with Russian (ro-shi-a-jin) sailors?
sei-nozomi
create a word from Chinese characters
import Chinese word with on or kun yomi
Eat hamburgers and you will become blonde. Really? Is there a reference on this story? When and where did it take place? What did they say in Japanese, assuming that the ad was not really in English?
Imperialistic? Why? By the definition we have agreed upon?
English is oppressive? How? Any references? Accusations need a bill of particulars before they can go to trial.
perception of fixed and deep subjectivities? I don't really understand what is being refered to here. Is there a reference?
Ames, Roger T. The Classical Chinese Self and Hypocrisy in Self and Deception: A Cross-Cultural Philosophical Enquiry ed. Roger T. Ames and Wismal Dissanayake Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996
Creighton, Miller. R. " The Depaato: Merchandising the West While Selling Japaneseness " in Tobin, Joseph J. Re-Made in Japan: Everyday Life and Consumer Taste in a Changing Society New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992 p. 46
Kachru, B. (1997). Opening Borders with World Englishes: Theory in the classroom. In S. Cornwell, P. Rule, and T. Sugino (Eds.) On JALT 96: Crossing Borders. Tokyo: Japan Association for Language Teaching.
Krishna Madan's scholarly paper (1993) in the ESL Reading Room at the University of Hawaii. (I mention this one for the sake of those at the University of Hawaii, who do have access to it.)
Phillipson, R. (1988). Linguicism: Structures and ideologies in linguistic imperialism. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas & J. Cummins (Eds.) Minority Education: From Shame to Struggle, Chap. 16. Clevedon & Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism: Theoretical foundations.
Quirk, R. (1991). The question of standard in the international use of English. In M. Tickoo (Ed.) Languages and Standards: Issues, Attitudes, Case Studies.