That’s how it is there

Recent sociolinguistic research on narrative has underlined the understanding of place as being both spatially defined and socially constituted through shared experience as well as contestation. Drawing on studies on the philosophy of place and the ‘small stories’ perspective, this study approaches place as an abstract concept in which spatial environment, people, objects, and activity come together as a unified, complex structure. Two Indonesian narratives are examined to illustrate the connectedness between the different elements that make up that structure. Ambiguous uses of temporal phrases and person references suggest that these elements (e.g., people and objects) are often undifferentiated. It is argued that the narratives are not simply stories about place but are stories enabled by place, that is, by presence in a spatial environment, encounter with people and objects, and engagement in shared activities through time, and which highlight self-identity as being deeply embedded in the identities of others.