Enregistering Diversity:

Adequation in Indonesian Poetry Performance

By Debbie Cole

(AnthroSource link)

This article demonstrates how “diversity” is enregistered in performances of contemporary poetry in bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) through voicing contrasts indexing membership in a linguistically and culturally heterogeneous Indonesian nation. Data from print media, instructional practices relating to the reading of poetry, and actual poetry-reading performances are used to trace interdiscursive links between public discourse about national diversity and performances of adequation– the social pursuit of linguistic sameness. These examples contribute to our understanding of how adequative language ideologies contribute to denaturalizing identities and suggest alternatives to language practices typically associated with ideologies of differentiation.

Key words: Adequation, Enregisterment, Diversity, Indonesian Poetry, National Identity

We’Es Ibnoe Sayy teaches about dialect in Indonesian Poetry
We’Es Ibnoe Sayy teaches undergraduate Indonesian students to read poetry in Indonesian dialects at a Freshmen retreat hosted by Ahmad Dahlan University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia: https://archive.org/details/WeesIbnoeSayyTeachesAboutDialectInIndonesianPoetry

We’Es Ibnoe Sayy reads poem by Goenawan Mohamad
Excerpts from a reading of Goenawan Mohamad’s poem “Tentang Seorang yang Terbunuh di Sekitar Hari Pemilihan Umum” [About a person killed around the day of the general election] by performer We’Es Ibnoe Sayy: https://archive.org/details/WeesIbnoeSayyReadsPoemByGoenawanMohamad

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