Intrusive Busybody or Benevolent Buddy: Phatic Communication among Javanese Women

Authors

  • Yuli Widiana Universitas Sebelas Maret
  • Sumarlam Sumarlam Universitas Sebelas Maret
  • Sri Marmanto Universitas Sebelas Maret
  • Dwi Purnanto Universitas Sebelas Maret
  • Mohamed Zain Sulaiman Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2020-2002-03

Keywords:

Javanese, women, phatic, communication, politeness

Abstract

Phatic communication is a discourse mechanism used primarily to establish and maintain social bonds. It operates differently across societies as well as genders within the same society. Thus, failure to understand such differences might result in misunderstanding and communication breakdowns. This paper discusses the phatic communication of the Javanese, the largest ethnic group in Indonesia. We focus primarily on the Javanese women who represent the majority of the Javanese population. Understanding the unique characteristics of their phatic communication would certainly play an important role in the cross-cultural network. The sociopragmatic approach is used for the analytical procedure to scrutinize the characteristics of Javanese women's phatic communication and the data are collected by taking field notes, conducting in-depth interviews, and distributing Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT) questionnaire. The findings show that Javanese women use phatic communication for initiating a conversation, intensifying camaraderie, pleasing others, expressing happiness, and consoling others. The main function is to sustain social rapport. Some phatic talk topics that may be regarded in certain cultures as intrusive and humiliating, such as those which concern one’s private life, are not considered so among Javanese women. To Javanese women, phatic communication is crucial in maintaining and promoting solidarity. Understanding phatic communication among Javanese women would contribute to successful cross-cultural communication in building social networks and business affairs, definitely.

Author Biographies

Yuli Widiana, Universitas Sebelas Maret

Yuli Widiana is a Doctoral student at Linguistics Department, Graduate School, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia and a lecturer at English Study Program, Faculty of Communication Science, Universitas Katolik Widya Mandala Surabaya Kampus Kota Madiun. Her research interests include sociolinguistics and pragmatics. She is involved in research in sociolinguistics, pragmatics, and communication.

Sumarlam Sumarlam, Universitas Sebelas Maret

Sumarlam is a Professor of Linguistics at Linguistics Department, Graduate School, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia. His research interests include critical discourse analysis and pragmatics. He is involved in research in Javanese language and culture.

Sri Marmanto, Universitas Sebelas Maret

Sri Marmanto is a senior lecturer at Linguistics Department, Graduate School, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia. His research interests include sociolinguistics and pragmatics. He is involved in research in Javanese language and culture.

Dwi Purnanto, Universitas Sebelas Maret

Dwi Purnanto is a senior lecturer at Linguistics Department, Graduate School, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia. His research interests include sociolinguistics and pragmatics. He is involved in research in the Indonesian language and language in law.

Mohamed Zain Sulaiman, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Mohamed Zain Sulaiman is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Research in Language and Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and a professional translator and interpreter for English, Arabic, and Malay. His research interests include translation and cross-cultural communication.

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Published

2020-05-15

Issue

Vol. 20 No. 2 (2020): May 2020

Section

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