ISSN 2227-5525. Мова і суспільство. 2019. Випуск 10. С. 70–81 Language and society. 2019. Issue 10. Р. 70–81 УДК 81’27-11(4) LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY AND NATION-STATE BUILDING IN MEIJI JAPAN Yuliya DZYABKO * Department of Contemporary English, College of Literature Ibaraki Christian University Japan is conventionally considered to be a monocultural, monoethnic, and monolingual society. According to the Population Census taken in 2015, the total population of Japan reached 127.09 million people. Statistics reveals that the percentage of ethnic Japanese people is 98%, while foreign residents account for 2% of the total population (see Population Census 2015 Statistical Maps of Japan). The national and official (de facto) language is Japanese. However, the image of Japan as a monolingual state has always been a subject for discussion. Nowadays, analyzing linguistic situation and language reforms instituted in Japan in the era of modernization, researchers underline that Japan was and has always been multilin- gual, and the image of a homogenous society, which it presents, is “a modern myth” (Miller, 1982; Maher and Yashiro, 1995) or “fabrication” (Heinrich, 2011, 2012). Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe those social and political factors that situate language ideology in relation to the nation-state building process in Japan during the Meiji period (1868–1912). The paper begins by defining the concepts of language ideology. Following this, it clarifies the linguistic situation in the Meiji period. Finally, it analyzes so- cial and political changes that influenced forming language ideology as one of the tools of nation-state building processes in modern Japan. The nature of language ideology There is a wide range of literature that covers the nature of language ideology (see e.g. Eagleton, 1991; Heath, 1989; Hill and Hill, 1986; Irvine, 1989; Joseph and Taylor, 1990; Milroy and Milroy, 1995; Silverstein, 1979; Woolard, 1998). However, current research shows strugg- les in its conceptualization. For example, Silverstein (1979, p. 13) defines language ideology as “sets of beliefs about language articulated by users as a rationalization or justification of per- ceived language structure and use”. Irvine (1989, p. 255), on the other hand, emphasizes the role of social and political processes through which language ideology signifies: “the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistic relationships, together with their loading of moral and political interests”. Another approach is presented by critical linguistics that focuses on the ways in which ideologies are shared through language (Fairclough, 2001). In other words, they con- sider that ideology is inherent to discourse, and thus attention to political power, social ine- quality, and social relations in the society should be paid. Analyzing the approaches to language ideology, Woolard (1998, p. 4) suggests dividing them into the investigation of 1) language ideology as rationalization that affects language structure; 2) the role of language ideology in language (or language varieties) contact; 3) lan- guage ideology as scientific ideologies of particular linguists (analysis of public discourses on language).  Dzyabko Yu., 2019