Study on the documents of Java in Siku Quanshu; Historical knowledge and historians’ point of view

The dissertation discusses various documents on Java collected in Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of Four Treasures). The documents used as the sources of this study are the ones with complete pictures and strong narration on Javanese recorded from Han Dynasty (206 bc–220 ad) to Ming Dynasty (1364–1644) in order to reveal what kind of historical knowledge or historical information is delivered by Chinese historians in general and what kind of point of view is used by historians to deliver the notes about Java. Through analytical reading, the readers will find that historians paid attention to three issues: the relationship between China and Java, the condition of Javanese kingdoms and their culture, and the Java land natural resources. People of China regard their country as an ancient country with long history of remarkable civilization which located in the centre of the world. The awareness of how important is their country, indirectly influences the historians’ points of views. The texts analyzed indirectly prove that some areas on Java are culturally left behind and the countries beyond China, including Java, are the barbaric ones obliging their people to submit or pay tributes to the Kingdoms of China.KeywordsJava, Siku Quanshu, historical knowledge, historians’ points of views

Language development of bilingual children; A case study in the acquisition of tense and aspect in an Italian-Indonesian child

This paper describes the development of temporal expressions in a bilingual child acquiring two typologically distinct languages: Italian and Indonesian. These languages differ from one another in the way tense and aspect are encoded and it is interesting to observe what kind of cross-linguistic influence one language system has on the other. Italian verbs are heavily inflected for person, number as well as for tense, aspect and mood, whereas, in Indonesian, the encoding of tense and aspect is lexical rather than morphological; moreover encoding is optional when the context is sufficiently clear. This means that tense and aspect in Indonesian is often marked pragmatically rather than grammatically. This paper considers the interference effects that result from simultaneously acquiring these two typologically distinct systems.Key wordsChild bilingualism, Italian, Indonesian, tense, aspect, cross-linguistic structures, interference

Family stories; Oral tradition, memories of the past, and contemporary conflicts over land in Mentawai, Indonesia

This is a study of oral tradition on Mentawai family stories. The family stories relate to historical events and contemporary social issues occurred in the Mentawai Islands and affecting the Mentawai kin groups. The Mentawai family stories comprise significant elements defining different kin groups living on the Mentawai Islands. They are also an important source of information with regard to claims to ancestral land. The Mentawai family stories can furthermore be regarded as the kin groups’ verbal form of identities. Therefore, to maintain the family stories is indispensable to Mentawai communities and the power of human memory plays an important part in maintaining and transmitting the significance of these verbal identities of the communities.KeywordsMentawai, Indonesia, anthropology, oral tradition, family stories, memories of the past, and conflicts over land

The moral panic about the socializing of young people in Minangkabau

This paper analyses the discourse surrounding the perceived threat of free seks and pergaulan bebas (free socializing) to the moral health of young Minangkabau people, and in particular, young women, in West Sumatra. It uses the sociological frame of “moral panic” to examine contemporary discussions about globalization and the influence of “the West” in West Sumatra. The paper examines the way in which “the authorities” in West Sumatra (media, such as teen magazines and newspapers, academics, government and law, teachers, and community leaders) present the threat, and the way in which young people, who are the target of the moral panic onslaught, see themselves in relation to the threat. I argue that, unlike the original “folk devils” of the moral panics in Britain, young people in Minangkabau broadly give their consent to the authorities, displaying a striking commitment to social conservatism, local culture, and Islamic values.KeywordsMoral panic, West Sumatra, Minangkabau, Indonesia, youth, sexuality, free sex, free socializing

Youth culture and urban pride The sociolinguistics of East Javanese slang

This study offers an overview of the characteristics and social functions ofyouth slang in the Indonesian province of East Java. It examines Boso Walikan and various types of Surabayan slang. Boso Walikan emerged in Malang as a secret language that was deliberately made unintelligible to outsiders. Over the decades, large parts of Malang’s urban population developed proficiency in the language and appropriated it as an identity marker. The situation in nearby Surabaya is different. While lacking a uniform local slang comparable to that of Malang, several communities make an effort to differentiate themselves through specific linguistic habits, which are briefly introduced. These case studies tell us not only how young people shape their speech, they illustrate how the East Javanese dialect deals with linguistic variety, lexical borrowing and innovation.KeywordsSlang, youth language, Boso Walikan, East Java, Malang, Surabaya

Early marriage, adolescent motherhood, and reproductive rights for young Sasak mothers in Lombok

This article focuses on Indonesian adolescents who are wives and mothers, demonstrating how early marriage and adolescent motherhood are normative among women from poor Sasak communities in Western Lombok. It is based on ethnographic research with 28 young mothers that included focus group discussions, in depth interviews, and observations. Demographic and ethnographic data on the aetiology of early marriage and adolescent motherhood are discussed, and confirm that low educational attainment for girls, lack of employment prospects, poverty, and low levels of economic development are all associated with a higher probability of adolescent marriage and motherhood in Indonesia. The article also reveals how conservative sexual morality and local marriage customs can propel girls into early marriage. It provides a human rights analysis that demonstrates how early marriage and adolescent motherhood intersect with the neglect of girls’ rights to education, employment, equality in marriage, health information, family planning, and maternal health.KeywordsIndonesia, early marriage, adolescent mothers, reproductive rights, maternal and child health