Language and Power

Language and Power
Author: Benedict R. O'G. Anderson
Publisher: Equinox Publishing
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2006
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9789793780405

In this lively book, Benedict R. O'G. Anderson explores the cultural and political contradictions that have arisen from two critical facts in Indonesian history: that while the Indonesian nation is young, the Indonesian nation is ancient originating in the early seventeenth-century Dutch conquests; and that contemporary politics are conducted in a new language. Bahasa Indonesia, by peoples (especially the Javanese) whose cultures are rooted in medieval times. Analyzing a spectrum of examples from classical poetry to public monuments and cartoons, Anderson deepens our understanding of the interaction between modern and traditional notions of power, the mediation of power by language, and the development of national consciousness. Language and Power, now republished as part of Equinox Publishing's Classic Indonesia series, brings together eight of Anderson's most influential essays over the past two decades and is essential reading for anyone studying the Indonesian country, people or language. Benedict Anderson is one of the world's leading authorities on Southeast Asian nationalism and particularly on Indonesia. He is Professor of International Studies and Director of the Modern Indonesia Project at Cornell University, New York. His other works include Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism and The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World.

Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar

Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar
Author: James Neil Sneddon
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 1135873518

This grammar is a complete reference guide to the language of Indonesia as used by native speakers. The book is organised to promote a thorough understanding of Indonesian grammar. It presents the complexities of Indonesian in a concise and readable form. An extensive index, cross-referencing and a generous use of headings will provide readers with immediate access to the information they require. Key features: to aid clarity, all word groups and structures discussed are illustrated by natural examples of frequently used words and expressions each section can be read independently, enabling the reader to focus on a specific aspect of the language, if required all major structures of Indonesian, from words to complex sentences are described in detail common grammatical terms used are all clearly defined in an extensive glossary. By providing a comprehensive description of Indonesian in a clear and non-technical manner, this grammar makes an ideal reference source for all users of the language, whether in colleges, universities or adult education classes of all types. James Neil Sneddon was Associate Professor in the Faculty of Asian and International Studies at Griffith University, with long experience teaching Indonesian language and linguistics. He is also author of Understanding Indonesian Grammar. Alexander Adelaar is Principal Fellow in the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is author of a number of books on Austronesian linguistics. Dwi Noverini Djenar lectures in the Department of Indonesian Studies at the University of Sydney. She is author of Semantic, Pragmatic and Discourse Perspectives of Preposition Use: A study of Indonesian locatives. Michael C Ewing is a senior lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is author of Grammar and Inference in Conversation: Identifying clause structure in spoken Javanese.

Language Policy in Superdiverse Indonesia

Language Policy in Superdiverse Indonesia
Author: Subhan Zein
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2020-02-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0429671075

Indonesia has an extreme diversity of linguistic wealth, with 707 languages by one count, or 731 languages and more than 1,100 dialects in another estimate, spoken by more than 600 ethnicities spread across 17,504 islands in the archipelago. Smaller, locally used indigenous languages jostle for survival alongside Indonesian, which is the national language, regional lingua francas, major indigenous languages, heritage languages, sign languages and world languages such as English, Arabic and Mandarin, not to mention emerging linguistic varieties and practices of language mixing. How does the government manage these languages in different domains such as education, the media, the workplace and the public while balancing concerns over language endangerment and the need for participation in the global community? Subhan Zein asserts that superdiversity is the key to understanding and assessing these intricate issues and their complicated, contested and innovative responses in the complex, dynamic and polycentric sociolinguistic situation in Indonesia that he conceptualises as superglossia. This offers an opportunity for us to delve more deeply into such a context through the language and superdiversity perspective that is in ascendancy. Zein examines emerging themes that have been dominating language policy discourse including status, prestige, corpus, acquisition, cultivation, language shift and endangerment, revitalisation, linguistic genocide and imperialism, multilingual education, personnel policy, translanguaging, family language policy and global English. These topical areas are critically discussed in an integrated manner against Indonesia’s elaborate socio-cultural, political and religious backdrop as well as the implementation of regional autonomy. In doing so, Zein identifies strategies for language policy to help inform scholarship and policymaking while providing a frame of reference for the adoption of the superdiversity perspective on polity-specific language policy in other parts of the world.