Wòlak-waliké jaman; Exploring contemporary Walikan in public space

This article describes the current use of Walikan, a youth language in Malang, Indonesia. Unlike previously decribed youth registers in Indonesia, Walikan has been around since as early as the 1940s and has continuously reinvented itself ever since. As will be shown, the speakers of Walikan have certain strategies to keep the practice alive. In addition to the use of Walikan in oral face-to-face communication, they also use Walikan in songs, local TV news, local newspaper columns, as well as in public signs. The analysis focuses on how a youth language that started out as an oral practice was being maintained through written and audio-visual media offline and online. The results inform us how a community work together in shaping their identity through linguistic means