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Abstract
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PURPOSE: We rhetorically explore the phenomenon of kamikaze attacks from a technical communication and rhetorical perspective by analyzing two 1945 Japanese military manuals, directed, respectively, to officers and pilots on how to organize and conduct suicide attacks against American warships.
METHOD: We examine Japanese military ideology at a particular stage in the war to contextualize a rhetorical analysis of the two translated texts. We explore rhetorical dynamics implicit within the text, the texts as part of the instructional genre, and ethical concerns particular to the context of the texts and desired actions they describe.
RESULTS: We explore different complementary and dynamic rhetorical aspects of the texts, such as their approach to their respective audiences, the recurring subjects of remorse and questioning orders, the normalization of the suicidal act, the need for mental toughness in the pilots, the recurring use of the imperative mood, and the dehumanizing role of images. We conclude that certain pilot mortality affects the instructional form, the language reinforces the inevitability of the suicidal act, the images included dehumanize the act further, and the manuals seem created to address potential disciplinary issues.
CONCLUSION: Through the genre of procedure, the two manuals help legitimize and normalize an invariably suicidal act. The two manuals are gripping case studies for discussion of ethical technical communication across cultures, in situational context, and as instructional genre, illustrating the power of written procedure to facilitate extreme acts. We suggest further studies in military technical communication, emphasizing cultural differences between different militaries. © 2020, Society for Technical Communication. All rights reserved.
Language: en |