The assemblage of inter‐ethnic marriages in Indonesia

Abstract

Abstract Inter‐ethnic married couples develop their intimate lives together within the context of their broader cultural communities. Drawing from 10‐weeks of fieldwork with ten Javanese and Chinese Indonesian couples (65 interviews, over 500 pages of transcript, 70 pages of field notes, and over 360 photographs), we approach such marriages as dynamic sites of cultural hybridity and the re‐assemblage of key elements from the participants' ethno‐cultural assemblages of origin. We document how mundane social practices, such as practicing respect for elders, observing religious practices, combining familial work traditions and fusion cooking are instrumental elements in establishing culturally‐hybrid ways of conducting more harmonious lives together. The conceptual framework developed for this article from the assemblage and social practice theories offers a novel approach to exploring everyday cultural hybridity in the conduct nature of inter‐ethnic marriages.