Abstract:Traditional performing arts along the northern coast of Java often place female performers at the complex intersection of spiritual sacredness, patriarchal control, and modern economic commodification. This study aims to…
analyze the social realities, gender power dynamics, and cultural transformations represented in Ahmad Tohari's novel Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk (RDP) in direct comparison with the empirical practices of Donbret and Sintren arts in Eretan, Indramayu. Utilizing a sociology of literature framework combined with feminist culture and political economy theories, this research investigates the persistence of animistic beliefs, mechanisms of patriarchal hegemony, and the erosion of sacredness due to commercialization. Data were collected through textual hermeneutics, in-depth ethnographic field observations, interviews with local cultural custodians, and socio-structural analytical methods. The findings reveal that while both the literary text and the living traditions share an ancestral lineage in animistic rituals where the female body functions as a sacred medium for ancestral spirits (indang), contemporary socio-economic pressures have significantly altered these structures. The sacred status of female performers is systematically degraded into an object of eroticism, saweran transactions, and male control. This paper emphasizes the vulnerability of traditional female-centered performing arts amidst societal transformation and commercialization.
Abstract:Makassar is currently facing a mobility crisis that is not merely technical, but deeply embedded in the social, political, and spatial dimensions of urban life. Mobility spaces in the city—roads, transport nodes, and travel…
ravel rhythms—have become contested arenas where technocratic planning collides with residents’ everyday realities. This study aims to examine how mobility spaces in Makassar are produced, negotiated, and lived by urban dwellers amid infrastructural dysfunction and unequal access.
Using a qualitative, city-based ethnographic approach, the research was conducted across key mobility corridors and densely populated neighborhoods. Conceptually, this study draws on the frameworks of spatial anarchy (Castells & Smith), temporal disorientation (Zerubavel), and the politics of infrastructure (Larkin) to analyze how disorganized space and time shape citizens’ mobility experiences.
Findings reveal that Makassar’s mobility space is marked by spatial fragmentation, erratic urban rhythms, and various forms of micro-resistance—such as the use of informal routes, modifications to pete-pete (minibus) trajectories, and the occupation of street space by informal economic activities.
This research contributes theoretically to urban anthropology and the discourse on mobility justice by foregrounding the need to understand cities from below—through the lived experiences of residents who continuously adapt within unruly and unstable urban environments
Abstract:This study explores how marginalized communities in Makassar construct and sustain their life rhythms amidst the temporal pressures shaped by infrastructure systems, mobility regimes, and urban development logics. Employing…
ing a space- and time-based urban ethnographic approach, the research traces residents’ daily tactics, rhythmic narratives, and spatial practices in navigating mobility exclusion and the accelerating, non-inclusive urban pace.
Field findings reveal that residents engage in various forms of micro-resistance—such as adjusting selling hours, utilizing interstitial moments in urban space, and cultivating social rhythms that diverge from technocratic logics. Within temporalities not governed by state or capital, urban spaces are collectively reproduced from below, positioning spatial production as a bottom-up process rather than a top-down imposition.
The study contributes theoretically by advancing Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis, Urry’s notion of differential mobility, and Gandy’s political ecology of infrastructure within the context of Global South cities. By foregrounding time as a critical analytical lens, the research expands our understanding of how power operates temporally in urban life, and how residents negotiate this power through their everyday rhythms.
Ultimately, this research offers a new perspective for interpreting urban dynamics—not only through spatiality but also through socially produced temporalities.
Abstract:This study explores how Bugis-Makassar women construct and navigate plural reproductive knowledge in response to abortus imminens (threatened miscarriage), drawing on Talcott Parsons’ AGIL framework to analyze the sociocultural…
ocultural functions of care practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Makassar, Indonesia, including interviews and participant observation with ten pregnant women, the study reveals that reproductive behavior is shaped by adaptive strategies (A), collective goals (G), moral integration (I), and intergenerational transmission of norms (L). Rather than following a singular medical logic, women mobilize syncretic forms of care that blend biomedical treatment, spiritual rituals, and ancestral taboos. These plural responses reflect not only epistemic hybridity but also reproductive governance enacted through kinship, religious authority, and clinical institutions. Women's agency is expressed not through open resistance, but through strategic moral navigation and embodied alignment with normative expectations—a form of what Mahmood terms the ethics of self-formation. The findings challenge biomedical-centric approaches to maternal health and highlight the need for culturally responsive interventions that respect local logics of risk, protection, and care. This study contributes to sociological debates on medical pluralism, moral regulation, and the reproduction of gendered knowledge in the Global South.
Abstract:This research aims to explore, analyze and understand the use of suluk and jawokan in the context of the culture and traditions of the Cirebon-Indramayu community. The type of research used is a qualitative descriptive study…
tudy with an ethnographic approach to document the use of suluk and jawokan in various traditional ceremonies, rituals, as well as aspects of the social and spiritual life of the community. Data collection methods include direct observation, in-depth interviews, and searching related literature. The research results show that suluk and jawokan have an important role in traditional ceremonies, traditional medicine, and religious rituals, used for various purposes such as healing, protection, and communication with ancestral spirits.
Apart from that, suluk and jawokan reflect cultural values and local wisdom passed down from generation to generation. This research concludes that preserving suluk and jawokan as part of intangible cultural heritage is very important to maintain the identity and cultural sustainability of the people of Cirebon-Indramayu. The mysticism of suluk and jawokan is oral literature that developed among the people of Cirebon-Indramayu as a vehicle for expression in expressing ethics, aesthetics and transcendent values in deeper social and religious realms.
Based on the research results, the students' writing level is very enthusiastic, so that students are able to express ideas, thoughts, and messages in writing poetry or mantras. It turns out that based on the table, 70% of students like writing, 15% dislike it, and 15% are hesitant. Learning to write requires continuous practice. For this reason, teachers as facilitators and motivators for students, should offer strategies in the form of methods and media that are interesting for students. The strategies used by teachers determine the success of learning. To achieve writing skills, a lot of practice is needed. Appropriate and varied writing exercises will make it easier for students to learn the language and have a big influence on learning other subjects. Therefore, the role of teachers and their creativity in the learning process also determines the success of students in learning the language, especially writing lessons.
Abstract:This study aims to analyze the social function of bini traditional poetry in the maintenance of the socio-cultural identity of local communities in Londalusi, East Rote District, Rote-Ndao Regency. The focus of the research…
rch is directed at the identification of the educational, normative, symbolic, integrative, and communicative functions of oral traditions related to the life cycle of society, including birth, marriage, and death. This study uses a qualitative approach with ethnographic-descriptive design. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and documentation of traditional narratives submitted by two key informants, namely traditional speakers (manehelo) and local traditional leaders. Data analysis was carried out thematically to map the social function of traditional narratives in the context of people's social lives. The results of the study show that traditional narratives and traditional bini poetry play an important role as a medium for inheriting traditional values, collective memory, local cosmology, and inter-generational social ethics. This oral tradition functions as a means of informal education, a regulator of social norms, a symbol of representation of the Rote people's worldview, a strengthening of social cohesion, and a cultural communication medium that maintains the continuity of the socio-cultural identity of the local community. This research confirms that the oral tradition of bini is not just an aesthetic expression, but a living and adaptive socio-cultural system. These findings contribute to strengthening the study of oral literature and cultural anthropology, especially in the context of Indonesian archipelago communities.
Abstract:Study This aiming For analyze integration Al-Qur'an verses in the Nyadran ritual through approach qualitative descriptive with use analysis thematic . The study was conducted in the Muslim community of Central Java with…
involving 20 religious figures and Nyadran ritual practitioners . Data obtained through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and documentation direct on implementation of rituals, as well as analyzed use approach phenomenology of religion and ethnography . This study limited to aspects prayer and dhikr in the Nyadran ritual , in order to enrich understanding about the concept of 'living Quran' in culture local . Research results disclose that integration the verses of the Qur'an play a role important in formation meaning religious and social in the middle community , where prayer and remembrance exist in the nyadran ritual reflect dynamics living and adaptive faith to context Javanese culture . Data validity is guaranteed through member checking and peer review , as well as supported by studies literature from 25 articles Scopus indexed for five years last . Implications study This No only give contribution academic to studies Islam and culture local , but also open opportunity development more ritual methods inclusive and contextual .
Abstract:This article examines the transformation of the meaning of the Quran in the context of death rites and death commemorations in Javanese society, especially in Central Java and Yogyakarta, during the period 2000–2023. This…
his research approach is qualitative by utilizing ethnographic data, archival studies, ritual documentation, and in-depth interviews with ritual practitioners. The use of the Quran, which was originally a sacred Islamic text with normative content, has undergone a transformation of meaning when adapted into traditional Javanese rites. The process of cultural acculturation that occurred illustrates the dynamics between ancestral traditions and Islamic values, which provide space for the reinterpretation of religious symbols by local communities (Anderson, 2003; Suryadi, 2011). The historical analysis method and the theory of cultural transformation proposed by Clifford Geertz are used to explain the evolution of the use of the sacred text and highlight the role of ritual as a medium for negotiating meaning between cultures. The results of the study show that the insertion of Quranic verses into Javanese mantras not only functions as a sacred element, but also as a tool for social legitimacy and cultural identity of the Javanese people. This finding opens up opportunities for further study on the integrative role of ritual in shaping religious and cultural identity in Indonesia.
Abstract:This anthropological study examines the experiences of the Muslim minority in Rantepao City, North Toraja Regency, focusing on religious freedom and interfaith dynamics. In a predominantly Christian region, the Muslim community…
mmunity navigates its religious identity within a deeply rooted Torajan cultural landscape. Through ethnographic methods, including participant observation and in-depth interviews, this research explores how minority Muslims practice their faith, access public space, and maintain communal harmony. The findings reveal that religious freedom in Rantepao is negotiated through a balance of cultural assimilation and religious preservation. While formal rights are generally respected, subtle social boundaries exist, particularly regarding religious expression and ritual intersections with traditional Torajan customs (Aluk To Dolo). This study highlights the resilience of the Muslim minority and demonstrates how local cultural mechanisms facilitate daily coexistence, offering crucial insights into religious tolerance and minority-majority relations in contemporary Indonesia.
Abstract:This study examines the Bau Lolon ritual in Kolilanang Village, Adonara Sub-district, East Flores Regency, focusing on its role as a traditional practice of ancestral veneration. The Bau Lolon ritual serves as a sacred medium…
edium for the local community to express gratitude, seek blessings, and maintain a spiritual connection with their ancestors. Utilizing a qualitative approach with ethnographic methods, data were gathered through field observations, structured interviews with traditional elders (Tua Adat), and documentation of the ritual steps. The findings reveal that the ritual embodies deep philosophical values, including cosmic balance, kinship solidarity, and cultural identity preservation. Furthermore, the Bau Lolon ritual functions as a social mechanism that strengthens communal bonds among the villagers. Despite modern societal shifts, the people of Kolilanang continuously preserve this ritual, demonstrating a resilient synthesis between ancestral traditions and contemporary community life.