Media-crafted social inequality: Analyzing the disconnect between Gap Society discourse and social inequality in post-bubble Japan

IF 1 4区社会学 Q2 AREA STUDIES

Asian Journal of Social Science Pub Date : 2025-04-02 DOI:10.1016/j.ajss.2025.100193

Jiangcheng Wu , Keqing Zhang

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Abstract

This paper explores the evolution of Gap Society discourse in Japan from 1988 to 2023, analyzing the disconnect between media portrayals and actual social conditions. Through a combination of critical discourse analysis (CDA) and text mining, the study identifies key discourse types—political, economic, academic, educational, social, and literary—across four periods of growth and decline. It finds that political discourse predominated during periods of growth, while literary discourse gained importance during declines. The study highlights the role of media in constructing symbolic realities, revealing how different newspapers employ similar frameworks to report on the Gap Society, thereby shaping a collective narrative that diverges from objective social conditions. Additionally, this paper also shows how shifting power dynamics among scholars, newspaper editors, writers, and the general public have influenced the evolution of the discourse. This mechanism, rooted in state-led modernization, may be a unique phenomenon in East Asia.

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来源期刊

Asian Journal of Social Science Multiple-

CiteScore

1.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Asian Journal of Social Science is a principal outlet for scholarly articles on Asian societies published by the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore. AJSS provides a unique forum for theoretical debates and empirical analyses that move away from narrow disciplinary focus. It is committed to comparative research and articles that speak to cases beyond the traditional concerns of area and single-country studies. AJSS strongly encourages transdisciplinary analysis of contemporary and historical social change in Asia by offering a meeting space for international scholars across the social sciences, including anthropology, cultural studies, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. AJSS also welcomes humanities-oriented articles that speak to pertinent social issues. AJSS publishes internationally peer-reviewed research articles, special thematic issues and shorter symposiums. AJSS also publishes book reviews and review essays, research notes on Asian societies, and short essays of special interest to students of the region.