Theorised at the end of the ‘90s, the Hikikomori phenomenon has described a specific form of social withdrawal in which young adults decide to isolate themselves for long periods of time. Unknown to non-experts before the pandemic, this behaviour has received more attention in recent times, when the number of young people identified as hikis (modern-day hermits) has grown dramatically especially in the form of “resigned withdrawal” (Majumder 2022). Hikikomori has thus become “a way to escape strong social pressure and great social competition” (Hikikomoriitalia n.d) that is seen as a source of resignation for young people who are supposed to be the “new beginners” after the pandemic. (Yung, Wong, Ho and Molassiotis 2021; Pereira-Sanchez, et. al. 2022). This paper aims to investigate the online discourse on the Hikikomori phenomenon by analysing how this experience of social isolation is talked about, considering the challenges of living, and working in an ever-evolving globalised world (Fox 2019). Investigating the phenomenon through the lens of job satisfaction, special attention will be paid to ex-hikikomori, who go through a process of self-discovery reaffirming themselves in the world of work. From a linguistic perspective, the analysis focuses on two different genres: the Hikis’ personal comments in which discussion about the activity of former social withdrawing and latter social re-affirmation is directly shared by the members of the Reddit community (Panek 2022), and more public, monologic spaces, i.e. newspapers, where longer texts are produced with a more descriptive purpose. More specifically, a comparative analysis of keywords (Kilgariff 2009) and selected key terms was carried out on two ad-hoc corpora, i.e. the Hikikomori Reddit Corpus (HRC) and the Newspaper Corpus (NPC). Preliminary results highlight that the linguistic choices of Hiki redditors show the presence of a distinctive form of language, used to illustrate their feelings and to seek support by sharing personal experience. Conversely, language in newspaper articles describes the new uncontrollable phenomenon as well as denounces the dissatisfaction of young people entering contemporary society.
‘Now, I have a job and my life started improving’: A Linguistic Analysis of Former Hikikomori’s Perspective on the World of Work
sara corrizzato;
2025-01-01
Abstract
Theorised at the end of the ‘90s, the Hikikomori phenomenon has described a specific form of social withdrawal in which young adults decide to isolate themselves for long periods of time. Unknown to non-experts before the pandemic, this behaviour has received more attention in recent times, when the number of young people identified as hikis (modern-day hermits) has grown dramatically especially in the form of “resigned withdrawal” (Majumder 2022). Hikikomori has thus become “a way to escape strong social pressure and great social competition” (Hikikomoriitalia n.d) that is seen as a source of resignation for young people who are supposed to be the “new beginners” after the pandemic. (Yung, Wong, Ho and Molassiotis 2021; Pereira-Sanchez, et. al. 2022). This paper aims to investigate the online discourse on the Hikikomori phenomenon by analysing how this experience of social isolation is talked about, considering the challenges of living, and working in an ever-evolving globalised world (Fox 2019). Investigating the phenomenon through the lens of job satisfaction, special attention will be paid to ex-hikikomori, who go through a process of self-discovery reaffirming themselves in the world of work. From a linguistic perspective, the analysis focuses on two different genres: the Hikis’ personal comments in which discussion about the activity of former social withdrawing and latter social re-affirmation is directly shared by the members of the Reddit community (Panek 2022), and more public, monologic spaces, i.e. newspapers, where longer texts are produced with a more descriptive purpose. More specifically, a comparative analysis of keywords (Kilgariff 2009) and selected key terms was carried out on two ad-hoc corpora, i.e. the Hikikomori Reddit Corpus (HRC) and the Newspaper Corpus (NPC). Preliminary results highlight that the linguistic choices of Hiki redditors show the presence of a distinctive form of language, used to illustrate their feelings and to seek support by sharing personal experience. Conversely, language in newspaper articles describes the new uncontrollable phenomenon as well as denounces the dissatisfaction of young people entering contemporary society.
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