Problems with Archival Materials in a Digital Environment: The case of Enggano, a language of Indonesia

Language communities, activists, and researchers who want to document, maintain, and revitalize heritage languages are often working with complex archival collections. Trying to piece together a complete picture of a language and culture from incomplete records is never easy, but it is made even more difficult when those records are biased, puzzling, derogatory, or plain wrong. And yet every record plays a part in telling the story and history of a people, their language, and their culture. This paper looks at the challenges facing a team of linguists and community members working with legacy materials relating to Enggano, a vulnerable language spoken southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the tools and techniques used to resolve, or at least mediate, those challenges. Archival materials mentioning the island and peoples of Enggano date from the late sixteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. The bulk of materials referring to the Enggano language were recorded from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. In this paper, we will discuss what happens in a digital environment - especially when creating an online dictionary and educational resources - when the linguistic content of legacy materials differs from contemporary language; when legacy materials are in formats and structures that are difficult to digitize; when they are in languages other than those spoken by the project team; and when they contain material considered culturally insensitive or inaccurate. It is hoped that the tools and techniques discussed will be of value to other researchers working with legacy materials and archives.

Presented by Sarah Ogilvie, Gede Rajeg and Daniel Krauße at the Language Documentation and Archiving Conference, Berlin & Online, 4-6 Sept, 2024.