Language as a Technology for Shaping Professional Identity: Translating ‘A Manual of the Steam Engine’ in Mid-Nineteenth Century Japan
Jōki kikai sho (A Manual of the Steam Engine, 1869) was one of the first comprehensive textbooks for a first generation of Japanese marine engineers, and in it many new technical terms appear in print for the first time. In this talk, I examine the logic behind the creation of this new technical lexicon, asking how language was mobilized as a technology for shaping a new professional identity.

Ruselle Meade is a lecturer in Japanese studies at Cardiff University. Her recent publications include ‘Minakata Kumagusu in London: Challenging Eurocentrism in the Pages of Nature’ in Notes and Records: the Royal Society Journal for the History of Science (with Bernard Lightman), and ‘Science across the Meiji divide: Vernacular literary genres as vectors of science in modern Japan’ in History of Science.
Date: 15 February 2024, 14:00 (Thursday, 5th week, Hilary 2024)
Venue: Pavilion Room, 4th Floor, Gateway Building, St Antony's College
Speaker: Dr Ruselle Meade (Cardiff University)
Organising department: Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Organiser: Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Organiser contact email address: administrator@nissan.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Nissan Institute Seminar in Japanese Studies
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Andrea Roncolato