First-Person Pronominal Variation, Stance and Identity in Indonesia

Unlike Indo-European languages, many Asian languages provide their speakers with a strategic choice of first-person pronouns. This article explores how Indonesian speakers vary their selection of first-person pronouns to enact stances. It examines the selection of pronouns on the island of Java, where there is the simultaneous and somewhat contentious growth of a more dogmatic Islamic identity and a youth identity linked to Westernization. Variation is examined in casual conversations between young, intimate interlocutors and observations are supported by interviews with conversation participants. Results show speakers select pronominal forms prescribed by Indonesian grammars as well as forms drawn from Arabic and colloquial Indonesian associated with speakers from the capital Jakarta. Pronouns are shown to be selected to enact stances related to, among other things, solidarity, epistemic authority, playfulness and the mitigation of fact-threatening acts. A concluding discussion outlines how young Indonesian speakers use these stances to construct heterogeneous selves, concerned with youth, nation and religion.