Strangers at Home: Identity Negotiation Practices among Ethnic Chinese in Madura, Indonesia

This study examines the identity negotiation practices among ethnic Chinese in inter-ethnic relations in Madura, Indonesia. Even though ethnic Chinesse have been living in Madura for quite a long time, they are still often considered as “strangers” by most of native Madurese. This study used qualitative data from literature review, field observations, and in-depth interviews with fifty informants of the ethnic Chinese who were born and lived in Madura. This study found that the practice of identity negotiation carried out by the ethnic Chinese in Madura includes several ways: using local language in daily conversation, changing their Chinese names into native Madurese names, practicing the Madurese indigenous cultural traditions in daily life, embracing Islam – the majority religion of the native Madurese – as their new religion, and marrying native Madurese men or women. The findings of this study corroborated prior studies that in unequal inter-ethnic relations, the ethnic minority often have to sacrifice themselves to be accepted by the ethnic majority. Moreover, ethnic minorities often have to negotiate identities, by hiding their master identity and highlighting other minor identities in order to be accepted and coexist with the ethnic majority.


INTRODUCTION
Indonesia is a country with thousands of ethnic groups. There are approximately 1300 ethnic groups in Indonesia (Arifin, Hasbullah, and Pramono 2016). Diversity seems to be the primary source that became raison d'etre of Indonesia. However, ethnic differences often become sources of horizontal conflict between different ethnic groups in Indonesia (Davidson 2003). Several ethnicidentity-based conflicts in Indonesia include the Ambon conflict, the Poso conflict, and the Sampit conflict (Davidson 2003;Hoon 2006;Setiono 2008). Although these conflicts are actually caused by the imbalance of economic, political, and cultural power relations, it must be recognized that the ethnic identity backgrounds seems to playing an important role for the many incidents of the inter-ethnic conflicts in Indonesia.
One of the ethnic minority groups that often become the victims of interethnic conflict in Indonesia is ethnic Chinese or Tionghoa (Heidhues 1996). Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia for long has been stereotyped as immigrant or "orang Asing" (non-native) and "Aseng" or minority groups (non-Muslim), and these stereotypes had have developed an anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia (Dawis 2010;Freedman 2003;Hoon 2006;Setijadi 2017). Historical records showed that the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia have become victims of inter-ethnic conflicts since the Indonesia's independence in 1945 (Freedman 2003;Turner and Allen 2007). In the postindependence era, a number of cases of violence against ethnic Chinese still reoccur in Indonesia (Davidson 2003;Heryanto 1998;Sai and Hoon 2012;Tan 1987Tan , 2008. Mass violence during the Indonesia's 1998 Reformasi riots also re-involved the ethnic Chinese as the victims of violence conflicts in various places around Indonesia (Dawis 2010;Freedman 2003;Turner and Allen 2007). However, cases of conflict involving ethnic Chinese actually do not occur in all regions in Indonesia. In a few regions, the Chinese-Indonesians are relatively acceptable and able to live in harmony with their fellow native Indonesians. A number of studies have shown that the ethnic Chinese in Madura have conducted voluntary assimilation and acculturation successfully (Dawis 2010;Erawati 2012;Hoon 2006). In many places in Madura, for example, it can be easily found Chinese villages (Kampong Pecenan) that live side by side in peace and harmony with pesantren or traditional Islamic boarding schools that are scattered around Madura Island. The identity issues seem not to arise and trigger ethnic-based-conflicts H i d a y a t : S t r a n g e r s a t H o m e : I d e n t i t y N e g o t i a t i o n P r a c t i c e s a m o n g E t h n i c C h i n e s e i n M a d u r a , I n d o n e s i a | 21 between the native Madurese majority and the Chinese-Indonesian minority in Madura (Heidhues 1996).
Contemporary studies of identity believe that identity is always created, constructed, and managed in everyday life (Brekhus 2015;Cohen and Kassan 2018). According to (Goffman 1959), argues that individuals tend to display their identity in such a way as to impress others around them. 'Impression management' is a concept introduced by Goffman to explain the ways individuals display their identities in different contexts (1959). In this sense, Goffman's impression management can be understood as the initial references to the practice of identity negotiation where the social actor tends to take actions in his interests in daily social interactions (Goffman 1959).
The concept of identity negotiation is based on the assumption that people enter their social interactions with specific goals in mind and try to establish a mutual identity that enables them to attain these goals. A process of negotiation ensues and, if successful, a working consensus emerges that defines the identity that each person is to assume during the interaction. From then on, the interaction proceeds until the participants have achieved their goals or one partner decides not to honor the identity that he or she has negotiated (Swann 2005).
The concept of identity negotiation can be traced back to the symbolic interactionism of George Herbert Mead (Scott 2016;Swann 1987Swann , 2005Swann, Johnson, and Bosson 2009) who emphasizes the role of social actors in social interaction. In the perspective of symbolic interactionism, the social actor conveys messages in the form of actions or personal appearances that will be interpreted by the recipient of the message in the process of social interaction. Mead's idea was further developed by Goffman (1959) who explained the process of symbolic interactionism as a dramaturgy. In the idea of dramaturgy, Goffman envisions the social world as a performance stage, where the front stage is the arena where social actors or individuals must carry out specific roles facing an audience or other people; while back stage is the arena behind the stage or behind other people where the social actor can more freely be himself (Goffman 1959). Goffman states that the task of each individual in social interaction is to build agreement on the roles that each person has as in a dramaturgy. In this light, the ultimate goal of the most common identity negotiation practice is thus to maintain harmonious relationships in social interactions within diverse groups or environments (Swann and Bosson 2008;Swann et al. 2009).
Identity negotiation practice may include several components, one of which is the practice of self-presentation to display certain identities in front of others (Swann and Bosson 2008;Ting-Toomey 2015). However, identity negotiation practice is not identical with self-presentation itself. An individual who chooses to move from one identity domain to another does not necessarily describe the concept of identity negotiation as a whole. The practice of self-presentation is usually carried out by individuals as a tactic to get symbolic rewards or meet social demands in certain social interactions. In this regards, self-presentation tend to emphasize the 'pleasing others' aspect. On the other hand, the practice of identity negotiation refers more to the efforts of individuals to find a balance between an individual's desire to appear in front of others and an individual's desire to fulfill the ideal of their own identity. In this situation, an important process of identity negotiation practice is marked by the absence of external coercion and the emergence of internal awareness to adapt harmoniously to a new and different environment (Swann and Bosson 2008;Ting-Toomey 2015).
In the study of contemporary sociology of identity, there is also a view that identity has never had a single dimension. The concept of identity always implies the character of intersectionality; it is formed from various cross-sectional slices of many identity attributes such as race, ethnicity, social class, gender, religion, citizenship, geographical position, social status, occupation, tastes, hobbies, life experiences, friendship networks, or family relationships (Brekhus 1996;Brekhus et al. 2010;Hidayat 2016). Moreover, identity is not only a social construction but also a biographically grounded, emotionally charged way of experiencing everyday life situations. Individual identity is thus a dynamic meeting between many different elements.
Furthermore, according to (Brekhus 2008) states that individuals always negotiate identities when presenting themselves in everyday life. Brekhus proposed the concept of 'marked identity', the idea that there are a number of identities attributes that are intentionally highlighted or openly displayed by individuals in social interaction, and 'unmarked identity', the idea that there are also intentional identity attributes hidden or covered in the process of social interaction (Brekhus 2008). Brekhus introduced a typology of identity presentation based on these H i d a y a t : S t r a n g e r s a t H o m e : I d e n t i t y N e g o t i a t i o n P r a c t i c e s a m o n g E t h n i c C h i n e s e i n M a d u r a , I n d o n e s i a | 23 marked and unmarked identities, which consisted of 'identity lifestylers', 'identity commuters', and 'identity integrators' (Brekhus 2008). Referring to Brekhus, an 'identity lifestyler' is an individual who tends to choose a particular form of marked identity and then regulates all aspects of their lives based on their chosen master status identity. In this sense, a lifestyler does not feel the need to negotiate identity because he/she has only one main marked identity (Brekhus 2015). Meanwhile, an 'identity commuter' is an individual who tends to move and negotiating identities, from one marked identity space to another marked identity (Brekhus 2015). An identity commuter, for example, might be an office worker who moves from the appearance of a professional identity (first marked identity) during the day to the appearance of another identity as a cafe singer (second marked identity) at night.
Finally, an 'identity integrator' is an individual who tends to see himself/herself as an interwoven of different attributes and dimensions of identity in the same situation and time. An identity integrator has multiple identities marked together; and without one dominant identity or master status (Brekhus 2015).
In the context of inter-ethnic relations, the practice of identity negotiation does not only involve the 'marked identity' of ethnic background. In everyday life interactions, it is a common for an individual to manage and maximize the identity capital he/she has, both in terms of marked and unmarked identity, to fulfill his/her interests. It is through this process of negotiating the marked and unmarked identity attributes that the process of adjusting, bargaining, giving, and receiving identity voluntarily between ethnic groups becomes an important effort to build social interaction that is mutually respectful, tolerant, and harmonious. By taking into account these understandings, this study explores the multiple ways in which ethnic

METHOD
This study used a qualitative method with a phenomenological approach.
Alfred Schütz's Phenomenology is a research approach carried out by revealing the hidden meanings behind the subjective experiences of individuals (Creswell 2013).
The process of expressing the meanings of subjective experience into an objective or universal meaning was done by apprehending to the story of the subject's personal experience and then analyzing the narratives delivered based on specific themes. One important aspect of phenomenology is the process of 'bracketing out', in which the researcher tries as far as possible to abandon personal experiences and guesses during the stages of research (Creswell 2013). In the context of this study, through a phenomenological analysis process, it was hoped that an understanding The data collecting process for this study was conducted from April to September 2019, in two ways, from primary data sources through field observations and in-depth interviews, as well as from secondary data sources through literature  As revealed in the interview excerpts from the two informants above, namely Grace and Aristaboth ethnic Chinese women who speak very fluently in Madurarese, most of the informants in this study also admitted that they were fluent in speaking Madurese. Specifically, the informants in this study who were older adults had a relatively better ability in speaking Madurese than the younger informants. In addition to being able to speak casual (low-level) Madurese, which is commonly used in daily conversations, some older informants are also able to speak polite (high-level) Madurese, which is quite difficult and has now begun to be rarely used among native Madurese. On the other hand, most of the younger informants in this study admitted that they were only able to speak casual (lowlevel) Madurese, which was widely used among youths in daily conversation in Madura.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The mastery and use of Madurese language by ethnic Chinese in daily life is one of the main strategies in the practices of identity negotiation of ethnic Chinese in Madura. Most informants in this study admitted that the ability to speak Madurese was important in interacting with native Madurese (Aguilar 2001). By being able to speak Madurese, they find it easier to be considered as native Madurese. Referring to (Goffman 1959), daily social interaction is a 'front stage' where individuals tend to display good impressions, so they are readily accepted in interactions with others. Everyday life is an arena where the self performs in some different ways depending on time, place, and audience (Goffman 1959). In other words, impression management, in this light of language skills, is crucial in the practices of identity negotiation. By being able to speak Madurese well, the ethnic Chinese tend to be more readily accepted and considered as part of the native Madurese in their daily interactions. Those who were initially seen as 'outsiders' would immediately be accepted as 'insiders' when they are able to communicate in Madurese properly. Most of the informants in this study also stated that without the ability to speak Madurese well, the process of adaptation and their acceptance in inter-ethnic relations in Madura might not have proceeded smoothly. In other words, language adaptation is one of the main and first strategies to be well received in inter-ethnic relations in Madura.
Changing Names into Native Madurese Names. In addition to language acquisition and mastery, name adaptation as a local identity is also a strategy for negotiating ethnic Chinese identity in Madura. Names are often considered to represent a cultural identity of a group of people. Sociologically, the name is formed socio-culturally, not appearing by itself or suddenly evolve in a vacuum. Names in Javanese culture, for example, are different from names in Batak culture of Indonesia because their roots and cultural structures are also different. This present study found that the adaptation of local Madurese names as a personal identity was often made by the ethnic Chinese descendants in Madura.  Interestingly, this study also found that there were some ethnic Chinese individuals in Madura who had several different names. For example, when these Chinese individuals were in a circle of fellow ethnic Chinese, they would introduce

| T h e J o u r n a l o f S o c i e t y and M e d i a 5 ( 1 )
As stated by Hanna, this study also found that there were female ethnic Chinese informants in Madura who were not reluctant to wear a hijab (headscarves for Muslim women) when they had to participate in social activities with other Madurese women in their community. They use the hijab with a reason to respect the local tradition of the majority of native Madurese, even though actually they are not Muslim (they are Christians). According to these informants, they use the hijab at certain times, for example, when attending a social gathering or invitation, and do not use the hijab at all times.
In addition to the adaptation of cultural traditions in the form of Madurese ways of clothing, such as hijab and sarong, another attribute that is widely used as a strategy for identity negotiation of ethnic Chinese in Madura is the holding of traditional Madurese ceremonies, such as in celebrating childbirth and marriage (Aguilar 2001  including Islam, cannot be done immediately for the sake of social adaptation alone.
The process of converting to Islam among ethnic Chinese in Madura occurred because it was influenced by many factors. The closeness and interest in Islamic teachings practiced by the majority of native Madurese are one of them. Some Chinese-Muslim informants in this study stated that they became Muslims not because of coercion, but because of their own initiative. Some other informants also stated that they had become Muslims since birth because their parents were also Muslims.
Historically often differs in many waysphysical, ethnic, cultural, economic, social, religious but when it has decided to get married, then the couple who are full of differences will be considered as 'oreng Madhure' (native Madurese) (De Jonge 1989;Tan 2008). The label of 'oreng Madhure', as an identity capital obtained by ethnic Chinese who married a native Madurese, will last as long as the marriage relationship remains. Identity negotiation strategies by marrying Madurese men or women carried out by several ethnic Chinese informants in this study were also found in some previous studies (Erawati 2012;Farid 2019;De Jonge 1989, 2012Oetomo 1998;Rifai 2007).
The findings of this study shows that individuals of ethnic Chinese in Madurawho have a variety of identity intersectionspractice identity negotiations in their daily lives. They attempt to bracket their multiple identity affiliations, shifting from one identity to another identity and living double or even multiple lives, and many others bring their many identity affiliations together to form one multiply influenced and socially networked self (Brekhus 2008). These practices of identity negotiations are carried out to facilitate the process of acculturation of ethnic Chinese in Madura. Acculturation occurs when an individual begins to adopt a cultural identity other than his cultural identity (Tan, Ngah, and Darit 2017). This is different from the assimilation that occurs when an individual must unite or become part of a dominant culture and give up his/her own cultural identity.
Under the Indonesia's Soeharto New Order regime, the political practices of Pembauran or assimilation with coercion which discriminated against ethnic Chinese took place. Referring to this policy, for example, ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are prohibited from using Chinese cultural attributes, traditions, names, and languages in daily life (Chong 2015;Freedman 2003;Hoon 2006;Purdey 2003;Suryadinata 2001). The assimilation with coercion of ethnic Chinese in the Indonesia's New Order regime was originally intended to include ethnic Chinese as an integral part of the Indonesian culture. They were asked to give up their ethnic Chinese identity and become 'Indonesian.' However, the tragedy of the 1998 anti-China riots proved that the policy of coercion assimilation did not achieve what the New Order regime wanted. According to (Purdey 2003) noted, these riots had twin effects: they generated a renewed awareness among these minorities of their ethnicity and particularly of their vulnerability in Indonesia, as well as a widely felt realization that the assimilation project had indeed failed.
Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia are often regarded as 'Asing' (foreigners), 'Aseng' or non-pribumi (non-native), and therefore subject to various forms of discriminatory treatment (Astutik and Effendi 2016;Hoon 2006;Suryadinata 2002;Suryana 2018). A national survey in 2016 by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, found that the majority of pribumi (native Indonesian) respondents agreed to statements about Chinese Indonesians' alleged economic dominance and privilege, with almost 60% saying that ethnic Chinese are more likely than indigenous Indonesians to be wealthy (Hew 2010a). The survey also confirmed the existence of negative prejudices against ethnic Chinese influence in Indonesian politics and economy, and many natives believe that Chinese Indonesians may harbor divided national loyalties (Setijadi 2017). In various cases, the failure of the assimilating cultural identity in Indonesia is often seen as one of the causes of interethnic conflicts in Indonesia (Davidson 2003;Dawis 2010;Hoon 2006). It was this policy of coercion assimilation that failed in the New Order era that made ethnic Chinese in Indonesia has to compromise with reality as a minority that often experienced discrimination (Muzakki 2010).
In contrast to the Indonesia's New Order era which applied the practice of forced assimilation, ethnic Chinese in Madura today are more inclined to carry out acculturation processes (Freedman 2003;Hoon 2006). The practices of identity negotiation of ethnic Chinese in Madura are one of these acculturation strategies.
The practices of identity negotiation take place through various forms: selfappearance, self-identification, behaviors, and interaction with others (Swann 2005;Swann and Bosson 2008). Individuals in minority groups with different identitiesethnicity, race, gender, religion, social statusoften have to do identity negotiation practices in order to be accepted and live in harmony within their social environment (Tan et al. 2017

CONCLUSION
In general, this study found that the practices of identity negotiation of ethnic Chinese in two regencies in Madura -Bangkalan Regency and Sumenep Regencywas carried out in various ways which included the using of local