Language Shift, Gender, and Ideologies of Modernity in Central Java, Indonesia

This article explores the shift away from formal styles of Javanese to the use of the national language, Indonesian, within the context of new educational and social opportunities for Javanese youth. It focuses on gender differences in language attitudes and considers how socialization and cultural...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of linguistic anthropology 2009-06, Vol.19 (1), p.57-77
Main Author: Smith-Hefner, Nancy J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
Communication
Cultural anthropology
Cultural differences
Culture
Gender
Gender differences
Grandparents
Ideology
Indonesia
Indonesian language
Indonesians
Java
Javanese
Language
Language attitudes
Language change
Language ideologies
Language shift
Linguistic anthropology
Men
Middle class
Modernity
Muslims
National languages
Parents
Polynesian culture
Socialization
South Asian studies
Southeast Asian culture
Valence
Women
Youth
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Description
Summary:This article explores the shift away from formal styles of Javanese to the use of the national language, Indonesian, within the context of new educational and social opportunities for Javanese youth. It focuses on gender differences in language attitudes and considers how socialization and cultural ideologies regarding men's and women's relationship to language shape those attitudes. Recent changes in possibilities for social and status mobility linked to language use have challenged traditional language ideologies and have led Javanese men and women to develop different language strategies and patterns of interaction. A new subjective concern with emotional and interpersonal expressivity among youth—particularly among young women—is identified as an important mediating valence in the shift to varieties of Indonesian identified as more "communicative" and "participatory."
ISSN:1055-1360
1548-1395
DOI:10.1111/j.1548-1395.2009.01019.x