Language, Identity, and Marginality in Indonesia: The Changing Nature of Ritual Speech on the Island of Sumba
Indonesia's policy since independence has been to foster the
national language. In some regions, local languages are still
political rallying points, but their significance has diminished,
and the rapid spread of Indonesian as the national language of
political and religious authority has been described as the
'miracle of the developing world'. Among the Weyewa, on the
island of Sumba, this shift has displaced a once vibrant tradition
of ritual poetic speech, which until recently was an important
source of authority, tradition, and identity. But it has also given
rise to new and hybrid forms of poetic expression. This first study
to analyse language change in relation to political marginality
argues that political coercion or cognitive process of 'style
reduction' may partially explain what has happened, but equally
important in language shift is the role of linguistic
ideologies.
Table of contents:
Introduction; 1. Place, identity, and the shifting forms of
cultivated speech: a geography of marginality; 2. Towering in rage
and cowering in fear: emotion, self, and verbal expression in
Sumba; 3. Changing forms of political expression: the role of
ideologies of audience completeness; 4. Ideologies of personal
naming and language shift; 5. From miracles to classrooms: changing
forms of erasure in the learning of ritual speech; 6.
Conclusions.
The spread of the national language in Indonesia has threatened
local languages. On Sumba a tradition of ritual poetic speech has
waned, although new hybrid forms of poetic expression are emerging.
Political coercion is a partial explanation, but so is the role of
linguistic ideologies.
A study of the effects of the spread of Indonesian on local ritual
speech on Sumba island.
Introduction 1. Place, identity, and the shifting forms of cultivated speech: a geography of marginality 2. Towering in rage and cowering in fear: emotion, self, and verbal expression in Sumba 3. Changing forms of political expression: the role of ideologies of audience completeness 4. Ideologies of personal naming and language shift 5. From miracles to classrooms: changing forms of erasure in the learning of ritual speech 6. Conclusions.
