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Speaking Through the Silence: Narratives, Social Conventions, & Power in Java
Contributor(s): Berman, Laine A. (Author)
ISBN: 0195108884     ISBN-13: 9780195108880
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
OUR PRICE:   $237.60  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: October 1998
Qty:
Annotation: Uncovering the structures and functions of conversational narratives uttered within natural social networks, Laine Berman shows how working-class Javanese women discursively construct identity and meaning within the rigid constraints of an hierarchical social order. She does this by
identifying the silences, the "unsaid," and by revealing both the structure and function of silence in terms of its indexical reference to local meaning. It is here that the force of the Javanese language as used in everyday interaction shows itself to be an extremely potent philosophical entity as
well as a means of social control. Thus, at least in regard to the urban poor, the book boldly questions the difference between traditional definitions of Javanese elegance and oppression. This study will contribute to our understanding of the social consequences of language use, to the linguistic
knowledge of Indonesia and Java, and to such basic linguistic issues as narrative structure and function, speech levels and styles, and indexicality features.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - Sociolinguistics
Dewey: 306.445
LCCN: 97029990
Lexile Measure: 1390
Physical Information: 0.93" H x 6.42" W x 9.38" (1.42 lbs) 276 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
Uncovering the structures and functions of conversational narratives uttered within natural social networks, Laine Berman shows how working-class Javanese women discursively construct identity and meaning within the rigid constraints of an hierarchical social order. She does this by
identifying the silences, the unsaid, and by revealing both the structure and function of silence in terms of its indexical reference to local meaning. It is here that the force of the Javanese language as used in everyday interaction shows itself to be an extremely potent philosophical entity as
well as a means of social control. Thus, at least in regard to the urban poor, the book boldly questions the difference between traditional definitions of Javanese elegance and oppression. This study will contribute to our understanding of the social consequences of language use, to the linguistic
knowledge of Indonesia and Java, and to such basic linguistic issues as narrative structure and function, speech levels and styles, and indexicality features.