Does the use of a common national language lead to nationalism: a perspective of Indonesia?

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CONTENTS

ABSTRACT3

INTRODUCTION4

Background Introduction4

Problem Statement5

Significance of the Research5

Research aim and objectives6

Research Questions6

LITERATURE REVIEW6

Philosophy of Common Official Language and Nationalism7

Significance of Common Print-Language8

Critical Review of Literature on Nationalism in Indonesia8

METHODOLOGY12

Research Approach12

Research analysis12

Limitations of the Paper13

DISCUSSION14

Theme 1: Choice of Malay as National Language16

Theme 2: Indonesia as a New Nation17

Theme 3: Indonesian as a Unifying Language leading to Nationalism18

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION20

Recommendations and Implications for Further Study22

References23

ABSTRACT

The paper explored the concept of using a common national language for leading towards nationalism, from the perspective of Indonesia. the proposed research will help in contributing effective knowledge to the pool of research related to the issue, and will also help in enhancing the researcher's knowledge of the issue. The conceptual framework for the research paper encompasses an exploratory approach to investigating the identified problem with the help of prior theories and existing literature. The major aim of the research paper is to understand the role of a common national language in effectively promoting nationalism from the perspective of Indonesia. The concept of nationalism might appear as a vague concept in terms of choosing an official language. A common national language is believed to covers the nations' inconsistency, as a whole in terms of a political domain. The proposed research will utilize an exploratory approach for exploring the literature related to the aims and objectives of the research, and will help in addressing the research questions. After the Indonesian independence, Bahasa was made as the official language in the arenas of culture, politics, economics, education and religion. The choice of Indonesian as a common language helped in communicating the revolutionary ideas of the founding fathers of Indonesia that helped in promoting nationalism in the country. The language was initially characterized as simple, flexible, free from hierarchy of social status and having a potential as an inter-ethnic language across the country of such diverse nations.

INTRODUCTION

Background Introduction

In order to explore the use of common national language in advancing nationalism, it is significant to explore the language, nation and people of that region. It can be argued that a common national language mobilize people to make a nation (Smith, 2010, 11). According to Anderson (1991), nationhood is considered as the most fundamental element in any country's politics and is “the most universally legitimate value in the political life of our time” (pp. 3). Prior to this in 1983, Anderson also asserts that a nation is considered as an “imagined community” because of the similar members in one community, who are not anonymous to each other even in a smallest nation (Anderson, 1983, 15). The author further states that the existence of a nation is primarily imagined through their common language (Anderson, 1983, 133). Thus, the author emphasizes on the role of common language in advancing a nation. Likewise, Gellner (1964) fundamentally proposes that “nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness: it invents nations where they do not exist” (pp. 169).

The planning of language includes focusing ...