Connecting Texts and Thoughts: How Translanguaging and Multilingual Writings Reflect Hybrid Identities in Colonial Times

Abstract

Indonesian multilingualism has been affected by outside factors including colonialism and globalization. During the Dutch colonial period in the early 1900s, Indonesian intellectuals wrote mainly in Dutch, and occasionally English and other regional languages. A hybrid identity was embraced as these speakers moved from one language to another in their speech. This study seeks to examine the manner in which a multilingual writer constructs his self-identity while expressing his opinions through newspaper columns, as well as the influence of colonialism on the writer’s self-identification. Using qualitative analysis of textual data taken from Indonesian newspapers published in the 1930s and 1970s, this study demonstrates that the multilingual writer recognized his hybrid self-identity since he could utilize a different language in different contexts. A hybrid identity was developed by the multilingual writer when he created a meaning-making system, shaped experience, and acquired understanding or knowledge using various languages in his repertoire. Despite the different identities, he remained loyal to one primary identity.