In Language, migration, and identity Zane Goebel analyzes language use and identity construction in two multiethnic and multilingual neighborhoods in north-central Java. The analysis centers on the social construction of fluid identities in situations of everyday talk. Varied methods are used to account for patterns of language use in interactions among neighborhood members, including “newcomers” and “old-timers,” “Javanese,” “non-Javanese,” and “Chinese-Indonesians.” Among these groups, several language varieties were in use, including Indonesian, the national language, ngoko Javanese (lower/informal speech level), and krama Javanese (higher/more respectful speech level).
Findings based on his ethnographic work and analysis of inter- and intra-ethnic interactions indicated that many non-Javanese women were likely to use signs associated with ngoko Javanese, a variety typically tied to intra-ethnic talk, in inter-ethnic interactions. These women had learned to use these signs in their pursuit of acceptance as members of the neighborhood (adequation). By contrast, non-Javanese male members of the same neighborhood engaged in much less use of Javanese, preferring to use Indonesian in inter-ethnic talk with other men. At first glance an issue of gendered usage, Goebel argues for a different interpretation based on members' “trajectories of socialization” and patterns of daily interaction.
Shifting to the other nearby neighborhood included in the study, Goebel reports that men in this lower-income neighborhood frequently use ngoko Javanese inter-ethnically (similar to the women, and unlike the men, in the other neighborhood). Since gender does not easily explain these patterns of language alternation, Goebel draws on ethnographic information regarding the members' daily patterns of interaction and trajectories of socialization, including familiarity with Javanese and length of time spent in the neighborhoods. Contrary to Indonesian national language policy, which posits Indonesian as the language of inter-ethnic communication, Goebel argues that Indonesian is indexically linked to the ethnic other in these neighborhoods, making it inappropriate for interaction among intimates, whether across or within ethnic lines. Use of ngoko Javanese has been recontextualized to “do intimacy work” across inter-ethnic lines through a process of adequation (“the linguistic pursuit of sameness”).
These analyses are situated in a rich theoretical framework, drawing heavily on previous work on semiotic registers, enregisterment, and trajectories of socialization. Goebel spends the first few chapters (2–4) developing his framework, describing the “perduring” and “locally emergent” semiotic registers (SR) that are relevant in these members' interactions. These SRs become resources for social identification. For example, alternating use of Indonesian (linked to the other, outsider, unfamiliarity and inter-ethnic communication) and Javanese (linked to the familiar, insiders, and intra-ethnic talk) by female residents of one neighborhood works to categorize certain members as “nonattendees,” a locally defined category of personhood, but linked to more perduring identities (the ethnic “other”). For example, krama Javanese is used to refer to the virtue of attendance at monthly meetings, while Indonesian is used to discuss the inappropriate behavior of men who dislike attending meetings. The book contains numerous examples of the co-construction of identity in situated interactions through the use of diverse semiotic resources, by migrants and long-term residents alike.
