Zane Goebel

Language and superdiversity : Indonesians knowledging at home and abroad

CHAPTER 1: ORIENTATIONS CHAPTER 2: THE SEMIOTIC FIGUREMENT OF COMMUNITIES IN INDONESIA CHAPTER 3: REPRESENTING ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL RELATIONS ON TELEVISION CHAPTER 4: ETHNICITY DURING A DECADE OF POLITICAL REFORM AND DECENTRALIZATION CHAPTER 5: THE ANCHORING OF ALTERNATION TO PLACE CHAPTER 6: REPRESENTING AND AUTHORIZING LINGUISTIC SUPERDIVERSITY CHAPTER 7: TALK AND CONVIVIALITY AMONGST INDONESIANS IN JAPAN CHAPTER 8: KNOWLEDGING, CONVIVIALITY, COMMUNITY, AND TOGETHERNESS IN DIFFERENCE CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION GLOSSARY REFERENCES

Identity and social conduct in a transient multilingual setting

This article focuses on the question of how systems of expectations for social conduct develop in a context characterized by diversity and transience. The empirical focus is a series of womens neighborhood meetings in a transient urban milieu in Indonesia. Drawing on work on semiotic register formation, I argue that expectations for social conduct within this neighborhood are constructed through the positioning of self and others in talk across speech situations. In doing so, I explore interdiscursive relationships between this conversational activity and more perduring signs of personhood and social relations. (Enregisterment, identity, Indonesia, migration, trust)*

An ethnographic study of code choice in two neighbourhoods of Indonesia.

Calls for more holistic sociolinguistics have increased in recent years, especially ones that enable multi-level approaches to the interpretation of language use. This paper shows how such an approach was used to examine code choice in an Indonesian urban setting. In particular it looks at and compares code choice in a low income neighbourhood and a middle-income neighbourhood of Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java. I show that patterns of language exchange are different to what we might expect, especially as they relate to inter-ethnic conversations. I account for these patterns using ethnographic data.

When do Indonesians Speak Indonesian? Some Evidence from Inter-ethnic and Foreigner–Indonesian Interactions and its Pedagogic Implications

It is now widely recognised that learning a language for everyday use needs to include the learning of socially appropriate uses of the language, but Indonesian programmes have been slow to take up this issue. Drawing on recent sociolinguistic research, this paper points out that some patterns of socially appropriate language use in Indonesia actually involve Indonesian only to the extent that those interacting wish to maintain social distance, while regional languages are used to promote closer social ties. Indonesian programmes thus require some rethinking in view of the complex multilingual nature of Indonesia. In particular, the inclusion of awareness-raising activities about the social significance of language choice in Indonesia coupled with training in ethnographic techniques is a possible way forward for such programmes.

Language, class and ethnicity in Indonesia

This paper focuses on the role of institutions and everyday talk in the building of associations between language, region, ethnicity and class in Indonesia. In particular, I am interested in exploring how institutions have contributed to the reproduction of language ideologies that link ethnicity and class with language variety. While I argue that institutional activities have helped – often unintentionally – to associate region with language to the extent that both are equated with ethnicity or ethnic identity, these associations do not fully account for the patterns of language use at the local level.

Language diversity and language change in Indonesia

This chapter uses a sociolinguistic lens to examine language change and diversity in contemporary Indonesia. Using examples from conversations, Indonesian television, politicians’ speeches, and political campaign signs, I note that ideas about Indonesian, Indonesian-ness, and ethnicity have dramatically changed. In interpreting this change, I argue that the ongoing commodification of languages and the positive revaluing of varieties of regional languages have contributed to this process. The commodification of languages has also changed the way language is thought of and used. For example, language mixing is now an accepted practice and some ethnic languages have co-equal status with Indonesian. The circulation of ethnic languages within the mass media has also created new forms of sociability among Indonesians. For example, familiarity with other ethnic groups’ languages enables many Indonesians to use bits of these languages in everyday conversations to appear more convivial, to seek votes in political contests, and so on.

Infrastructures for ethnicity: understanding the diversification of contemporary Indonesia

Social categories need to be replicated to endure. Commentaries about social practices drive replication. Commentaries increase the number of signs emblematic of this category. In contemporary nation-states, mass education, bureaucratic processes, and mass media create large participation frameworks that facilitate replication. I term these participation frameworks ‘infrastructures for ethnicity’. This paper examines two types of infrastructures that have facilitated replication of emblems of ethnicity in Indonesia. My data is drawn from a soap opera, Internet commentaries about this soap, and news stories about clothing and culture. In looking at this data, I examine how old elements that point to ‘ethnicity’ are combined with new elements, how this new combination invites commentaries, how this process increases the semiotic density of these categories, and how all of this engenders diversity in Indonesia.