キレイ is the first word I want to look at more closely because it was one of the few words we found that used katakana for emphasis purposes. It was found on the bottle of a Japanese Pantene Pro-V product. Unlike most of the words written in katakana, this word is clearly Japanese and is probably written like this to emphasize the effects of this products's purpose. For a person familiar with Japanese, katakana is probably an easy way to catch the attention of the reader because they probably encounter hiragana and kanji more frequently.
ルルルルルル is the second word I want to discuss because of the place I found this, my Nausicaa manga. The use of katanana here is also visually/artistically important, because it is fully integrated in the art. Unlike the text found in the dialogue bubbles, this katakana is easy to notice, usually because of the magnitude at which it appears on the page. At the same time, the use of katakana gives the sound effect a more unique feel because of katakana's scarce use.
Jack (ジョーさん) and I also thought that Katakana creates a sense of emphasis!
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting that you mention the aesthetic importance of katakana in manga, such as "ルルルルルル" in Nausicaa. I never realized that "the use of katakana gives the sound effect a more unique feel because of katakana's scarce use" - that was a nice observation!
(I'm posting this on behalf of Torie Lebsack(4nensee))
ReplyDeleteYou’re right about katakana being used for emphasis, and you do find it often in manga, because katakana is also used for many onomatopoeia (plus, it’s also sometimes easier to integrate into the artwork, I think). Foreign loan words are also written in katakana.
カタカナはおもしろいですね。
I agree that a lot of katakana is used for onomatopoeia in manga, and I think it is unique in the way that it cannot be replaced by any kanji/hiragana in most of these cases.
ReplyDeleteキレイ is a word that can be more fun to look at, because きれい and 綺麗 both exist for the same word. Torie was right about this, imo, that katakana is easier to integrate into the artwork, but there is something beyond that. I noticed a lot of Asian-fashioned artwork in the western society tend to use Kanji instead of Katakana, while some Japanese modern art tends to integrate with Katakana instead of the traditional characters. I don't have many examples around me, and this is just my impression. It would be interesting if you want to research further.
I like how you found a good example for a word being emphasized by being written in katakana - I knew this was a use of Katakana, but I couldn't find one myself, so good job getting one of those. The onomatopoeia in manga is another good one you pointed out - this is a really common one, so it's good you have a good example of it. There are other uses, such as foreign words, that you have yet to look into - if you want to, that would be an easy thing to add, since there are tons of examples. Well done though, it's a solid analysis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your analysis of kirei.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughts on the onomatopoeia; I was questioning why katakana is used at all for onomatopoeia.
What are your thoughts on this?