Other Indonesians by Joseph Errington
In 1928, members of a young subaltern Indonesian elite pirated the language of the Dutch empire, bringing the Indonesian language into being along with its nation. Today, Indonesian is the language of two hundred and forty million citizens but is the "native" language of no one. Through rich analysis focused on the interplay of language varieties in two remote Indonesian provinces, Other Indonesians describes the unique language dynamic which has enabled the development of modern, democratic Indonesia. Complicating binaries that pit "low" against "high" Indonesian, or "standard" against "mixed," J. Joseph Errington argues that it is precisely the un-ethnic, non-territorial quality of Indonesian that enables its speakers to express themselves as members of a national community. This detailed account locates Indonesian not only within the institutions which give it distinctive value in the nation, but also in the biographies of its young, educated speakers. With a nuanced understanding of national identity, this book shows how careful analysis of Indonesia can provide insight into broader dynamics of postcolonial nationalism in a globalizing world.
Joseph Errington is Professor of Anthropology at Yale University. He has served as chair of the Council for Southeast Asian Studies at Yale's Macmillan Center for International Studies and as president of the Society for Linguistic Anthropology.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780197563687 |
| ISBN 10 | 0197563686 |
| Title | Other Indonesians |
| Author | Joseph Errington |
| Series | Oxford Studies Anthropology Lang Series |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press Inc |
| Year published | 2022-11-14 |
| Number of pages | 152 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |