Understanding the Meaning of Wayang Kulit Performance using

Thick Description Approach

Mario Nugroho Willyarto

, Krismarliyanti

and Ulani Yunus

Language Center, Primary Teacher Education Department, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta,

Indonesia 11480

Independent Writer

Marketing Communication Program, Communication Department, Faculty of Economics & Communication, Bina

Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 11480

Keywords: Wayang Kulit, Thick Description, Cultural Heritage

Abstract: This paper described the meaning of Wayang Kulit in Javanese philosophy, a brief description of the figures

represented by the puppets. Wayang is one of the cultural heritages of Java which is very deep understanding

of the culture and character of the people of Indonesia. The meaning of symbols of wayang is the focus of

this paper. The symbols are represented by character of Semar, Bagong, Petruk and Gareng. What is the role

wayang in daily life, especially for Indonesian people, is becoming the main discussion as well. There are a

lot of wayang performances that have a deep meaning of the life itself. Although there are some scholars who

say that wayang is originally from India but it is not proved and, in the end, people accepted that wayang

came from Java. Opinion about wayang originated from India was because the story in the puppet was adapted

from the Mahabharata story originating from India. Using the concept of thick description by Clifford Geertz,

the author tries to explain about the history and character of the puppet figures according to Javanese

philosophy. Prominent figures such as Semar, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong were the reflection of the ideal

human being depicted with an imperfect physical form. From the 4 characters, the author tried to give a picture

of the meaning that there are symbolization in Wayang Kulit and the meaning of the characters. Apart from

the character of the Panakawan, the author discussed about Pandawa, Kurawa and Payon. Some of the

Wayang Kulit performances, in Indonesia, have specific purposes. Such as, describing politics, education and

culture. The interpretation sometimes is not as simple as it seen. The understanding of one is very much

dependent on the understanding of wayang itself. Therefore, this paper is to give more knowledge of audience

so that they can understand the deep meaning of the performance.

1 INTRODUCTION

Indonesia has a variety of cultures that gave birth to

various kinds of art. To explore the art in Indonesia

even more challenging, since the existing art of

Indonesia was influenced by various factors, such as

religion, environment, and geographical conditions.

In anthropology, or anyway social anthropology,

what the practitioners do is ethnography. And it is in

understanding what ethnography is, or more exactly

what doing ethnography is, that a start can be made

toward grasping what anthropological analysis

amounts to as a form of knowledge (Martin &

McIntyre, 1994). This, it must immediately be said, is

not a matter of methods. From one point of view, that

of the textbook, doing ethnography is establishing

rapport, selecting informants, transcribing texts,

taking genealogies, mapping fields, keeping a diary,

and so on. But it is not these things, techniques and

received procedures that define the enterprise.

Java Island itself has a variety of different

cultures, although there are some similarities but

often have different meanings. One of the only arts

that we can find in Java Island is wayang. There are

various types of puppets, namely, Wayang Orang,

Wayang Kulit and Wayang Golek. These types of

puppets come from different regions. Wayang Golek

comes from West Java and made of wood. Wayang

Orang is from Central Java, played by a man, while

Wayang Kulit is made from buffalo or cow skin.

Originating from Javanese family, the authors were

interested in the art of wayang culture from Eastern

344

Willyarto, M., Krismarliyanti, . and Yunus, U.

Understanding the Meaning of Wayang Kulit Performance using Thick Description Approach.

DOI: 10.5220/0010007700002917

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences, Laws, Arts and Humanities (BINUS-JIC 2018), pages 344-349

ISBN: 978-989-758-515-9

Java. The author tried to explain the wayang art with

the thick description approach by Clifford Geertz,

who suggested on interpreting to the deeper culture of

the symbols.

Like the Javanese wayang theatre, from which it

takes its name, the WAYANG model is not meant to

be an exact description of reality. It is a simplification

which nevertheless brings to our attention

relationships of interest and importance for real-

world affairs and which is thereby capable of

enhancing our capacity to understand the world and

to act well within it (Wittwer, 1999).

This paper is focusing on the meaning of symbols

of wayang which represented by characters, such as

Semar, Bagong, Petruk and Gareng. Role of wayang

in daily life, especially for Indonesian people was also

emphasized in the discussion below.

2 LITERATURE STUDIES

2.1 “Thick Description” as Context and

Meaning

As emphasized by all the authors heretofore

referenced in this Brief Note, a central component of

“thick description” is the interpretation of what is

being observed or witnessed. Denzin has made a

major contribution to qualitative research by carefully

showing the sequential link of “thick description” to

“thick interpretation” (Denzin, 1989). It is the

qualitative researcher’s task to thickly describe social

action, so that thick interpretations of the actions can

be made, presented in written form, and made

available to a wide audience of readers. Without

“thick description,” “thick interpretation” is not

possible. Without “thick interpretation,” written

reports of research will lack credibility and resonance

with the research community, the research

participants themselves, and with the wider audience

of readers for whom the report is intended (Ponterotto

& Grieger, 2007). It is the thick interpretive work of

researchers that brings readers to an understanding of

the social actions being reported upon.

2.2 The Essence of “Thick Description”

In integrating the work of Ryle (2009), Denzin

(1989), Holloway (1997), and Schwandt (2001), one

can extract the following essential components of

“thick description.” 1. “Thick description” involves

accurately describing and interpreting social actions

within the appropriate context in which the social

action took place. 2. “Thick description” captures the

thoughts, emotions, and web of social interaction

among observed participants in their operating

context. 3. A central feature to interpreting social

actions entails assigning motivations and intentions

for the said social actions. 4. The context for, and the

specifics of, the social action are so well described

that the reader experiences a sense of verisimilitude

as they read the researcher’s account. 5. “Thick

description” of social actions promotes “thick

interpretation” of these actions, which lead to “thick

meaning” of the findings that resonate with readers

(Ponterotto & Grieger, 2007). I like to use the

metaphor of a tree to explain the interconnection of

these three concepts. The “thick description”

constitutes the roots of the tree that nourish and feed

“thick interpretation,” represented by the solid trunk

of the tree, which in turn feeds the branches and

leaves of the tree, which represent the “thick

meaning.” It is the branches and leaves that most

capture the viewers’ attention, as is the case with

“thick meaning,” which grasps the attention of the

reader of the study. Thick description captures the

thoughts and feelings of participants as well as the

often complex web of relationships among them.

Thick description leads to thick interpretation, which

in turns leads to thick meaning of the research

findings for the researchers and participants

themselves, and for the report’s intended readership.

Thick meaning of findings leads readers to a sense of

verisimilitude, wherein they can cognitively and

emotively “place” themselves within the research

context.

Cultural historian, Dr. GAJ. Hazeau believes that

wayang comes from Indonesia, especially Java.

Understanding the wayang in the dissertation Dr.

Hazeau was an ornament that was carved and seen in

the shadow of the shadow. In addition to Hazeau,

there were some researchers from west and Europe

who had different opinions about the origin of

puppets. Western researchers said that wayang was

originated from Indonesia, especially East Java,

because wayang art is closely related to the socio-

cultural and religious situation of Indonesia

The wayang culture is considered coming from

Indonesia during the heyday of the kingdom in East

Java, namely Kahuripan, which was then led by King

Airlangga (976-1012). At that time the puppets used

as entertainment and literary texts used in the story

was the Book of Ramayana Kakawin, which was

written in ancient Javanese language during the reign

of King Dyah Balitung (989-910). The manuscript

was a compilation of the Book of Ramayana by

Walmiki, a poet that came from India.

Understanding the Meaning of Wayang Kulit Performance using Thick Description Approach

345

The early period of the 10th century was called the

period of globalization for wayang because of the

shift of public confidence from animism to Hinduism.

Therefore the figures and the placement of the deity

were in line to Hindu teachings. In the 12th century

until the 15th century was a period of secularization

where the story in wayang always glorified the kings

and introduced the king as the direct descendant of

the gods. In the 15th century, the story in wayang

turned into history and Islamic philosophy. But in the

16th century, during the kingdom of Demak, the rules

of the story in the puppets were changed because

Raden Patah considered too many things in the

puppets that are incompatible with Islam.

2.3 Panakawan

In the puppet story, there were 4 very famous figures

namely Gareng, Petruk, Bagong, and Semar. They

were often referred to as Panakawan or Punakawan.

They symbolize the common people. The character

indicated a variety of roles, such as knight advisers,

entertainers, social critics, clowns and even the source

of truth and policy. These four Panakawan were the

symbol of creation, taste, intention and work.

Semar had a prominent characteristic of white

kuncung as a symbol of the mind, a clear mind or idea.

Semar was the nanny of Pendawa. He was also

believed to be Hyang Ismaya who had supernatural

powers beyond the gods. Gareng had a prominent

feature of cross-eyed, arms and legged limp. The

three physical defects symbolized the taste. Crossed

eyes, was a sense of alertness, arched hands was a

sense of thoroughness and a limping leg was a sense

of caution. Gareng was Semar’s son, which meant

idol or obtained by worship. Nalagareng was a man

who could not speak very well, what he said

sometimes went awry. But he was very funny and

ridiculous. He was very powerful and could only be

defeated by Petruk. Petruk was a symbol of will,

desire, intention depicted in both hands. If moved,

both hands were like two people who work well

together. The front hand points, chooses what was

desired, the back hand holds tightly to what had been

chosen. Semar's sweet-faced boy with an attractive

smile, panda talk, and also very funny. He liked to

quip into untruth with his jokes. It was said that he ran

ajimat Kalimasada. Nothing couldn beat him apart

from Gareng. While the works symbolized Bagong

with two fingers and fifth hand wide open, meaning

that he always willing to work hard. Bagong meant

Semar's shadow. Bagong had a sassy and stupid

attitude. He is also very funny.

Pandawas Bima or Bimasena was a protagonist in

the epic story of Mahabharata. He was regarded as a

heroic figure. He was the son of Kunti and known as

a powerful Pandawas, always rude and frightening to

the enemy, although in fact his heart was gentle. He

was a family of Pandawas in the second sequence, of

five brothers. His brother Se'ayah was the famous

female epic of the Ramayana and often called

Hanoman. The end of Bima's story was told that he

died perfectly (moksa) with his four brothers after the

end of the Bharatayuddha war. The story was narrated

in episodes of Prasthanikaparwa. Bima loyal to one

attitude, that was not like stale and never to be

ambiguous and never lick his own saliva. Gatotkaca

was known as the son of Bimasena or Wrekodara of

the Pandawas. His mother named Hidimbi (Harimbi)

came from a greedy nation, he was told to have

extraordinary powers. In the great war in Kurukshetra

he killed many of the Korawa allies before finally

falling on Karna's hands. In Indonesia, Gatotkaca

became a very popular puppet character. For

example, in Javanese wayang he is known as the

Gatutkaca spelling (Javanese: Gathutkaca).

Supernatural powers are told extraordinarily, among

others, capable of flying in the sky without wings, and

famous with the nickname "muscle wire bone iron".

Yudhisthira aka Dharmawangsa, was a king who

ruled the kingdom of Kuru, with the central

government in Hastinapura. He was the oldest of the

five Pandawas, or the sons of Pandu. In the puppet

tradition, Yudhisthira was given the title "Prabu" and

had the nickname Puntadewa, while his kingdom was

called by the name of the Kingdom of Amarta.

Among Korawa, the prominent were Duryodana

and Dursasana, antagonists in the Mahabharata, and

they were all killed in battle against their cousin, the

Pandawas, in Kurukshetra. Although the sons of

Gandari were referred to as evil figures, the high

moral teachings in the Mahabharata refer to Gandari.

He repeatedly counselled his son to follow the

dharma and make peace with the Pandawas. Gandari

was close to Kunti who respected him like an elder

brother. In the Wayang Kulit performance, there is

always kayon or also called mountains (gunungan).

According to Drs. R. Soetarno AK, gunungan

was a

shadow puppet and its contents. Underneath was a

picture of a gate guarded by two giants holding

swords and shields. It symbolized the palace gate, and

at times the gunungan was used as a palace. At the

top of the mountain there was a wooden tree

surrounded by a dragon.

In the mountains there were also pictures of

various forest animals. The picture as a whole

described the situation in the wilderness. Gunungan

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symbolized the state of the world and its contents.

Before the wayang was played, the Gunungan was

plugged in the middle of the screen, leaning slightly

to the right which meant that the wayang performance

had not started yet, like the uncharted world. Once

played, the Gunungan was revoked, lined up on the

right. Gunungan was also used as a sign of the change

of the play or story stages.

3 METHODOLOGY

This research was conducted in the period of 6 (six)

months, using the method of literature study. The

research based on the previous researches, which

have been done by Indonesian people or others. The

validity of the research has been measured by the

similarity of the results from the literatures. This

method was chosen since one of the authors was

wayang lover and has been observing wayang for

more than 15 years.

4 DISCUSSION

4.1 The Symbolization of Characters in

Wayang

Thick Description suggested by Clifford Geertz is a

thick exposition by participating in the lives of

cultural actors, so as to recognize symbolic meanings

as defined by the actors themselves. Geertz in

understanding the hidden meanings in cultural

symbols uses a set of tools known as approaches in

the philosophy of science: hermeneutics, the

sociology of knowledge, the ethics of meaning and

structuralism.

Puppet in the community of Java is a life lesson

that has a very high value. Puppet is no longer a fairy

tale that is a spectacle. Wayang is not an

entertainment but wayang has become identity and

philosophy of life of society of java. Puppet is the

result of creation, taste, of human initiative in the

spiritual process. The story of the Gods, Pandawas,

Kurawa, Punakawan and natural life were symbols

that professes very deep meaning and contains a very

high philosophical teachings. Unwittingly, the

Javanese people often teach their children with the

principles held by the figures in wayang. Each symbol

contained in the wayang world has its own meaning

and represents human nature. The form of human

greed in puppetry is described by the Kurawa. They

possessed the greedy nature of envy. Kurawa was an

antagonist in the world of wayang. Kurawa is told to

be defeated in the war against the Pandawas.

Pandawas were protagonists. Described as a man with

a good face, had everything that makes them perfect,

Pandawas is a good human image, while Panakawan

is the ideal human image.

Panakawan had an imperfect physical form. They

are portrayed as ugly beings but they have qualities

that humans should possess. In Panakawan, Semar

was the most respected because he was considered the

wisest. This indicates that the wise man will always

be respected, honoured and followed by others.

Kurawa was described as a greedy, evil, and creepy

giant. They fought against their cousins, Pandawas,

just for the sake of power. This teaches us to always

avoid all forms of enmity and always love each other

for each other. The Pandawas, as a symbol of the

knight, were described as handsome, clean and good-

natured. Pandawas won the battle against Kurawa.

Pandawas are a form of human dreams. Pandawas are

a very difficult picture to accomplish. Pandawas was

too perfect as a human being. Therefore, Pandawas

are separated as half-gods.

Wayang evolved and developed rapidly in early

16th century with the rise of Sultan Demak and his

patronage on the wayang. One of the results was that

the wayang puppet figures became very stylized and

no longer resembled the human face and reflected the

change in philosophy and religion. By Sunan

Kalijaga, the philosophy of Islam was found in the

wayang performances (Indoindians, 2016).

As discussed above, that wayang implicitly

contained philosophy and religious teachings,

especially in Indonesia, where the Sunan spread

Islam. In Java, wayang is used for the da'wah of

Islam. It is growing rapidly, experiencing various

transformations in the visual aspect, and other

supporting aspects such as karawitan, literature, and

so on. Wali Sanga himself is involved intensively

here, especially Susuhunan Kalijaga and his son

Susuhunan Panggung. They strive to collaborate

between puppet arts that sound of non-Islam with the

teachings of Islam. Thanks to their role, wayang kulit

art by some parties interpreted Islamic teachings in

every aspect (Koesoemadinata, 2016).

4.2 The Role of Wayang in Daily Life

The performance of wayang was also used as a

metaphor of Indonesian Leaders. The trend to portray

Indonesian presidents as Punakawan (clown

servants) in wayang (shadow puppetry) was started

under the former President Soeharto. Whereas

Soeharto chose to be conveyed as Semar, a clown but

Understanding the Meaning of Wayang Kulit Performance using Thick Description Approach

347

also a former god, greater artistic freedom post-

Soeharto led to a more farcical depiction of Habibie

and Gus Dur as Semar's sons, Gareng and Bagong

(Pausacker, 2004).

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) in his

psychoanalysis stated that negatively a priori

assumption would develop the negative attitude

toward something (Willyarto, Chairiyani, & Pane,

2015) and Satria Dharma in his article “Apapun

Kurikulumnya, Mutu Guru Kuncinya”, showed that

teacher’s role is more important than the curriculum

(Benawa, Gea, & Willyarto, 2017). For example, if a

child thinks that learning is hard, then

psychologically, the child’s psyche will lock his ratio

thinking. As a result, he is more likely to quit

developing his way of thinking further, and

eventually generates his inability in learning and in

his daily problem solving skills. Therefore, it is

necessary for teachers to improve their method of

teaching. One way to vary the methods is by using

wayang in learning process. Vygotsky’s theory is

widely applied in the education. Thoughts on the

‘next growing area’ (zone of proximal development),

provide additional aspects in analyzing the verbal

communication skills of students. The theory also

gave implications on interpretting signs and symbols

used (Willyarto, Werhoru, & Gea, 2017). The use of

wayang in education is supporting the process of

learning itself on interpreting on wayang

performance.

Wayang adapts the story to the daily life of

Indonesian people equipped with the history and

culture of Indonesia. Indigenous figures that are

always oppressed and discriminated in Indonesian,

was brought to a puppet stories with a degree of

nobility with inner beauty and a humble but wise,

played by the figures Semar, Gareng and Petruk.

Summed up by Koesoemadinata (2016),

Cirebon's shadow play is a reflection of cross-cultural

diplomacy success in the past on a regional scale, and

could be a projection of an alternative diplomacy

success in the future on a global, even in universal

scale. Puppet in Indonesian culture has been able to

shed the limits of a rigid diplomacy to be softened

because of its appearance in Cirebon in the past.

Cirebon which is a harbor city became a meeting area

of various countries such as China, Arab, India,

France and other European countries. This inter-state

interaction becomes harmonious as told in previous

research (Yunus, 2017).

5 CONCLUSION

Wayang can be used in all aspects of human life, such

as education, politics, religion, culture and

entertainment. In the puppet story, there are four very

famous figures namely Gareng, Petruk, Bagong, and

Semar. They symbolize the common people. Each

character indicates a variety of roles, such as knight

advisers, entertainers, social critics, clowns and even

the source of truth and policy. Other figure is

Gatotkaca, a very popular character. He has

supernatural powers are told extraordinarily, among

others, capable of flying in the sky without wings, and

famous with the nickname "muscle wire bone iron".

Puppet in the community of Javanese people is a

life lesson that has a very deep value. Puppet is no

longer a fairy tale as it shown. Wayang has become

identity and philosophy of life of society of Javanese

culture. The wayang world is a picture of human life

in the real world. The philosophy of Islam was also

found in the wayang performances. There is a cross-

cultural diplomacy strategy that must be

acknowledged, understood, and practiced in wayang

performance. The reflection of a successful

diplomacy of the past can potentially be applied in the

present and harmonic relationships can emerge from

cultural diversity into the midst of rapid globalization.

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