Understanding 〜がっている (used to talk about the speaker himself)

Question

紫音「以前から思っていたんですが、逢桜さんって自分のファンが増えることに喜ぶ人なんですね」

逢桜「どういう意味？」

紫音「素晴らしい作品を書ければ後はどうでもいい、みたいなストイックな方という印象ありましたので」

悠真「僕も紫音と同意見かな。いっておくけど残念がっているわけじゃないよ」

逢桜「分かってるよ。わたし自身も俗物的だな、と思うし」

逢桜「でも、わたしは色んな人に自分の作品を読んで欲しいから」

逢桜 is a writer who wants more people to read her books, though 紫音 and 悠真 thought previously that she was a stoic person.

My Japanese friend says the 残念がっている is used to describe the feeling of the speaker himself. I’m surprised to learn that because all along I have been taught that 〜がっている is only used for third person (so I think the subject of this 残念がっている should be 紫音). So could you please explain the phenomenon? Why can we use 〜がっている for first person?

By the way, what is the meaning of 俗物的 in this context?

Answer 1

がる and がっている can indeed be used to talk about yourself, because this construct essentially talks about outward signs indicative of someone's internal thoughts, emotions, or feelings. So it's all about the appearance upon which certain conjectural conclusions can be drawn, either by the speaker or by someone else in the speaker's mind.

So 富山はケーキを食べたがっている literally means: Toyama is showing signs that tell us Toyama wants to eat cake.

I am sure at your level you have read or been taught that the reason you don't say 富山はケーキを食べたい is that you don't know that; you can only observe and make speculative statements based on the signs you observe.

How does that figure in a statement about oneself? It's the same idea. You are talking about the signs you give off because of a mental state, thought, or feeling and how those signs might affect other people. See these examples:

Note : Basically you use がる ( = garu) for the third person but there are some cases you can use がる ( = garu) for yourself when you see the actions or emotion objectively in certain conditions.

Ex. 彼は私が欲しがっていたバッグを買ってくれた。
= He bought me the bag I really wanted.

Ex. 私が日本語を勉強したがっていたのを知っていたの？
= Did you know that I really wanted to study Japanese?

Ex. 悲しがってばかりいても仕方ないから前に進まなくては。
= I shouldn’t be keep feeling sad. I should move forward.

Also this explanation:

がる TO TALK ABOUT YOURSELF

While the most common usage of 〜がる is to talk about others, it can also be used to talk about yourself. In these cases though, you are not describing your internal state, you are describing your behavior and how it affects others. Here's an example of how this looks:

私がお菓子をほしがると、姉はいつもわけてくれる。
When I show that I want snacks, my sister always shares her snacks with me.

In this sentence, the main focus is on your sister, and the fact that she shares her snacks with you. I wish my sister would do that for me! We used 〜がる here to indicate that you are behaving in a way that alerts your sister of your need for snacks.

Important note: this usage only occurs in subordinate clauses. Please see @aguijonazo's comment.

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Edit: Overlooked 俗物的

俗物的, 形容動詞 (na-adjective), just means worldly-minded or materialistic. Here it is used to contrast ストイック meaning someone who's not swayed by fame and money. 俗物的, in this instance, is its near antonym.