The Representation of Socio-Cultural Change in Modern Indonesian
Novels with Local Traditional Background
Nugraheni Eko Wardani
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Jalan Ir. Sutami 36A, Surakarta, Indonesia
Keywords: Socio-cultural change, tradition, Indonesian novels.
Abstract: The objectives of this study are (1) to explain and describe the local traditions in several Indonesian novels
such as Umar Kayam's novel Para Priyayi which represents a novel containing Javanese tradition, the novel
Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini which represents a novel containing Balinese tradition, the novel Sali by Dewi
Linggarsari which represents a novel with Papuan tradition value; (2) to explain and describe the socio-
cultural change in novels which represent the socio-cultural change in Indonesia. The method in this study is
descriptive qualitative using a content analysis technique. The source of data is document, namely the novel
Priyayi by Umar Kayam, Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini and Sali by Dewi Linggarsari. The data collection
technique is by reading and analyzing the novels to find out the traditions of the novel Priyayi by Umar
Kayam, Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini and Sali by Dewi Linggarsari and the socio-cultural changes reflected
in the novels. The data validity technique uses a triangulation theory. The data analysis technique uses an
interactive model analysis of Miles and Hubermann. The result of the study shows that there is a Javanese
tradition in the Umar Kayam's novel Para Priyayi which is represented through social stratification of Javanese
society divided into noble, priyayi and wong cilik (common people); there is a Balinese tradition in the novel
Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini shown by tradition and caste held firmly in Bali; there is a tradition value of
Dani tribe community in Papua in the novel Sali by Dewi Linggarsari related to tradition of marriage and
typical customs of Dani tribe. In the three novels also show the existence of socio-cultural change in the
society in each culture. This socio-cultural change is evolutionary, which means the cultural community in
the area undergoes a socio-cultural change slowly and over a long period of time. In the novel shows that
there is a society that adapts to the value of socio-cultural change, and also societies who oppose the socio-
cultural change they experience because of the desire to maintain the tradition. In the three novels show that
there is a cultural change from tradition to modernity due to the entry of Western culture, but the change did
not go well due to the clash of traditional culture and the modernity culture.
1 INTRODUCTION
Literary work represents the representation of life. In
the literary work, there is a picture of life of the
society because authors are the member of the
society. They voiced and conveyed problems of
people's lives in their work. Good authors will
certainly write their work not only to provide
entertainment through storyline, characterization and
background, but also enlightenment and chatarsis
about life to readers. The readers will be able to
conclude a valuable benefit by reading literary work.
Indonesia is a country that consists of many
islands with its various diversities, including the
diversity of tribes. In various islands, various
compound people that have various customs of
different cultureal live. This becomes an inspiration
for writers to write their work. The diversity of tribes
with different customs is certainly very interesting
when poured into literary work. Authors with
different ethnic and cultural backgrounds will present
the socio-cultural problems of the society through
their literary work because the authors usually come
from the relevant region and tribe.
Indonesian novels often display customs,
traditions and socio-cultural change of the society.
Conflict is usually due to a clash between traditional
and modern values that enter through a contact of
local communities with external values. The readers
can observe the cultural conflicts and clashes through
modern Indonesian novels. In the 20s, the conflict of
traditional and modern values can be read through the
Wardani, N.
The Representation of Socio-Cultural Change in Modern Indonesian Novels with Local Traditional Background.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 1, pages 237-241
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
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Marah Rusli's novel Siti Nurbaya (1928) and the
novel Salah Asuhan (1928) by Merari Siregar. And
for the 30s, the conflict of traditional and modern
values can be observed through the novel Layar
Terkembang (1936) by Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana and
the novel Belenggu (1938) by Armyn Pane. Similarly
for the 2000s, the conflict of traditional and modern
values can also be observed through the novel Para
Priyayi (2005) by Umar Kayam, the novel Tarian
Bumi (2012) by Oka Rusmini and the novel Sali
(2012) by Dewi Linggarsari.
The novel Siti Nurbaya by Marah Rusli shows a
clash between tradition and modern values through
the Minangkabau culture where there is a conflict
between matrilineal cultural values and the entry of
new values through Dutch colonialism. The same is
true in the novel Salah Asuhan by Merari Siregar
where the values of the Minangkabau cultural
traditions are clashed by modern values brought by
the Dutch colonialism. The Novel Layar Terkembang
and Belenggu emerged during an inter-Indonesian
cultural debate over the direction of Indonesian
culture. There are some culturalists who want the
Indonesian culture be affiliated to the West, but some
others want the Indonesian culture be affiliated to the
East. Sutan Takdir Alisyahbana through his novel
Layar Terkembang conveyed an idea that the
Indonesian culture should be affiliated to the West
which has brought advancement in the field of
science and technology, including the appreciation to
women and their existence in the field of science and
technology. Armyn Pane through Belenggu conveyed
about the adverse effects of the Indonesian people
directing their cultural values to the West. Armyn was
more likely to invite Indonesians to use the Eastern
culture. Through the novel Belenggu, Armyn showed
a bad influence if the Indonesian people embrace the
Western culture as shown through a liberal figure
Tini.
Daniel Bell (in Tilaar, 2004: 16) states that
tradition has been in a messy condition due to
uncertain life. There have been major changes due to
the emergence of renaissance and capitalism marked
by the industrial Revolution in the 18th century in
Europe. Along with it, came the modern society. The
modern society is characterized by a rapid
advancement of science and technology and
education. Modernity according to Ulrich Beck (in
Tilaar, 2004: 22) is a process of de-traditionalizing a
society's life. Modern is always against tradition
though not all elements in the tradition are discarded
and replaced by new elements. Tradition cannot
simply be eliminated in human survival.
Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Scott Lash
assumes that tradition shifts toward modernity
continuously and sustainably. Transformation from
traditional to modern society is not directly able to
change its social values (Soedjito, 2001: 7). The
society have received the rapid results of science and
technology and education, but their social values do
not directly abandon their traditional values. The
value of traditional and modern affect on each other's
values and people's lives. There is a socio-cultural
value that changes dynamically and is evolutionary.
Ullrich Beck (in Tilaar, 2004: 16) states that there are
5 processes that affect the world community today
due to the modernization, among others (1)
globalization; (2) individualism; (3) gender
revolution; (4) unemployment; (5) global risk due to
environmental and monetary crisis.
Socio-cultural change can occur quickly
(revolution) and slowly (evolution). Slow change
(evolution) occurs when the socio-cultural change of
the society brings effect of change that is almost felt
by pople that they have changed.
In this paper, we will describe traditional and
socio cultural changes from tradition to modernity in
3 novels, namely the novel Priyayi by Umar Kayam,
Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini and Sali by Dewi
Linggarsari.
2 METHODS
This research uses the qualitative descriptive method
(Miles and Huberman, 1984: 11-15) and the
technique of collecting data is: Literary studies. To
collect written materials about novel from different
books, newspapers, magazines, and from the
internet. Books about novel are Priyayi by Umar
Kayam, Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini and Sali by
Dewi Linggarsari, books about Javanese culture,
Balinese Culture, and Papua culture, books about
local color, and so on; The data collection technique
is by reading and analyzing the novels to find out the
traditions of the novel Priyayi by Umar Kayam,
Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini and Sali by Dewi
Linggarsari and the socio-cultural changes reflected
in the novels. The data analysis technique is
interactive analysis technique which involved three
simultaneous activities: data reduction, data
presentation, and verification (Miles & Huberman,
1984:13). The technique used for validating data in
this research is triangulation, including the
triangulation of data sources, method, and theory.
Triangulation of sources is comparing various
sources in order to establish validity. In this
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research, the data derived from reading and
analizing the novels will be validated by comparing
to the data presented from the books about
Javanese culture, Balinese culture, and Papua culture,
and so on. Conference website.
3 RESULTS
3.1 Local Tradition in the Novel Priyayi
by Umar Kayam, Tarian Bumi by
Oka Rusmini and Sali by Dewi
Linggarsari
The novel Para Priyayi by Umar Kayam is based on
Javanese culture, the novel Tarian Bumi is based on
Balinese culture and the novel Sali is based on Papuan
culture. The three novels have different cultural
backgrounds. The two novels, Para Priyayi and
Tarian Bumi are written by two authors who have a
cultural background according to the content of the
story. Umar Kayam has a Javanese cultural
background and Oka Rusmini has Balinese.
Meanwhile, the last novel, Sali is written not by an
author with the background of Papuan culture, but by
a Javanese who works in the Office of Tourism of
Papua, thus, she can observe the cultural life of
Papuans, especially the Dani tribe.
The novel Para Priyayi tells about the life of the
Javanese priyayi during the Dutch colonial period and
the Japanese occupation period. In the period before
the entry of Dutch colonizers, the stratification
system of Javanese society was very closed. This is in
line with the opinion of Magnis-Suseno, Sartono
Kartodirdjo, Koentjaraningrat, Kodiran, and Suripan
Sadi Hutomo that the stratification of Javanese
society consisted of: (1) wong cilik (kawula) or
common people, consisting mostly of peasant masses,
craftsmen and other blue-collar workers; (2) the
priyayi, cosisting of clerks and intellectuals; (3)
nobles, cosisting of a small part of the king's
descendants (Suseno, 2001: 25; Koentjaraningrat,
1984: 231-232; Kodiran 1979: 322; Kartodirdjo,
1987: 4; Hutomo, 2001: 10). At first, these three types
of social stratification were closed. If a person was
born as child of wong cilik, he/she would be wong
cilik for the rest of his/her life. Similarly, if a person
was born as a priyayi, he/she would still be a priyayi
for the rest of his/her life.
Wong cilik covered most of the Javanese tribal
population spreading out from Central Java border of
Cirebon, East Java except Madura and Jogjakarta
Special Region. In the term of Kodiran (1979: 322),
it covered central and eastern parts of Java. Most of
the wong cilik masses consisted of blue-collar
workers who rely on muscle in performing their jobs
and are poorly educated (Suseno, 2001: 13).
Meanwhile, the priyayi class consisted of those who
had a position of pangrehpraja or worked for the king.
The novel Para Priyayi highlights about more the life
of Javanese priyayi in the 19th century where there
was a clash between tradition and modernity due to
socio-cultural changes during the emergence of
Dutch colonialism in Indonesia.
The novel Tarian Bumi by Oka Rusmini (Ida Ayu
Oka Rusmini) is based on Balinese culture, in
particular the Brahmin and sudra castes. In Balinese
life, there are 4 types of castes, namely Brahmin,
knight, waisya and sudra castes. This caste system is
not only related to the culture, but also to the religion,
especially Hinduism. Like the novel Para Priyayi, in
this Tarian Bumi novel, the caste system is also
closed. If a person comes from a brahmana caste,
he/she remains in a position of brahmin caste for the
rest of his/her life. If a person comes from a sudra
caste, he/she will remain in his/her position as a sudra
caste for the rest of his/her life. Marriage is
endogamous clan. People belonging to a clan are
people of the same rank in custom and religion
(Koentjaraningrat, 2004). This caste life is what the
author sees through his novel Tarian Bumi.
The novel Sali by Dewi Langgarsari is based on
Papuan culture, especially the Dani tribe. In this novel
is depicted about the patriarchy culture that befells to
the Dani women. There is a sexual division of labor
where men are in charge of hunting and battle, while
women work to cultivate, nurture children, take care
of the fields, cook and sell the field products. There is
also a culture of proposing a woman with a number
of pigs. Pigs are valuable animals for Papuans. Pigs
become valuable animals in traditional ceremonies
(Koentjaraningrat, 2004). The ownership of a number
of pigs indicates the person's social status. The more
the number of pigs they own, the higher the
socioeconomic status of the person in the community.
At the same time, in the marriage custom of the Dani
tribe, to marry a woman is done by a number of pigs.
There is an agreement on how many pigs should the
male family give to the female family in order to get
married. If there is no agreement on the number of
pigs to be given as a condition of marriage, then the
marriage cannot be held.
The Representation of Socio-Cultural Change in Modern Indonesian Novels with Local Traditional Background
239

3.2 Socio-Cultural Changes in the Novels
that Represent the Socio-Cultural
Changes of Indonesia
The Socio-cultural change leads to a shift from
tradition to modernity either by evolution (slowly) or
revolution (fast). In general, the socio-cultural change
that occurs in Indonesia is evolutionary, meaning the
people experience a socio-cultural change slowly and
do not feel that they have changed. The people in
some parts of the world, such as Russia, have
experienced a revolutionary social change (fast). This
change is because it wants to be done quickly; it often
forces people to change immediately. Coercion to the
people is also often accompanied by bloodshed and
this effect is very harmful to the people as well.
The novel Para Priyayi by Umar Kayam shows
the evolutionary socio-cultural change. In the
people’s life is known 3 social stratifications, namely
wong cilik, priyayi and noble. As mentioned above,
this social stratification was initially closed.
However, since the Dutch colonized Indonesia and
applied trias Politica consisting of (1) education; (2)
transmigration and (3) irrigation, there was a change
in the governance of the social stratification. As a
result of the Dutch education for indigenous people,
the social stratification was finally open. The Dutch
established many schools in Indonesia. There was a
special school for priyayi, but a chance for wong cilik
was also given to rise to the status as a low priyayi.
Thus, there is a massive mobility of the inclusion of
wong cilik to priyayi classes to fill the offices built by
the Dutch, and many Dutch-educated priyayi filled
the work in the Dutch bureaucratic offices. This is
shown by the figure Sastrodarsono who originally
derived from the wong cilik class and then rose his
status as a priyayi and worked as a teacher. He
ascended to the priyayi status through education.
According to Kartodirdjo (1987: 22) the priyayi
class is an employee of the Dutch colonial
government. Because the Western education
expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the
priyayi class could be divided into two, namely
bureaucracy and intellectual priyayi. The bureaucracy
priyayi was a priyayi class who occupied
pangrehpraja position and continued the old priyayi
tradition. This position was also occupied by the
offspring of the old priyayi who have modern
education. This position was inherited. The
intellectual priyayi was a priyayi class who occupied
the government position that required certain
knowledge and skill. Koentjaraningrat called it an
educated priyayi (1979: 234). Kartodirdjo (1987: 10)
still distinguished the priyayi into two classes, namely
high and low priyayi. The high priyayi is the priyayi
from the priyayi descent. If a person retired, then the
position would be given to his/her son. The low
priyayi was the priyayi from the wong cilik, but
because of their service, loyalty to the ruler and the
education they gain they rose to the priyayi status.
The wong cilik took the position of a low priyayi
through the tradition of ngawula, suwita, or ngenger.
If wong cilik had risen their status to the low
priyayi status, they would adjust their lifestyle to the
customs of high priyayi family. From their way to eat,
get along and dress would imitate the way done by the
high priyayi. In postcolonial theory, it is said that
there is an element of mimicry in it in order to have
the same high degree as the community group it
imitated.
In the novel Tarian Bumi, the author shows the
clash of tradition and modernity through a caste
system in Bali. The author attempts to break down
and criticizes how the caste system in Bali alienates a
man from the pure essence of divine love between a
pair of human beings. In the caste customs in Bali, a
man and woman are not easily married on the basis of
love. The marriage takes place by caste, meaning the
marriage can occur between the same inter-caste.
Women of the brahmin caste cannot marry men of the
lower castes. Similarly, men of the sudra caste, for
example, cannot marry women of a higher caste. No
matter how much love between men and women it
would be impossible to unite if the caste differences
hinder their relationship. Just as in the novel Tarian
Bumi, there is a character effort Ida Ayu Telaga
Pidada (from Brahmana caste) to get married with
Wayan Samitha (from Sudra caste) based on love.
The rebelled against the clan’s endogamous
provisions. Marriage must be based on love and not
limited to caste insulation. The end of the story, the
rebellion and opposition of traditions committed by
the character failed. His life was devastated by
preferring love over defending customary values.
This research same with Cahyaningtyas’s research.
Cahyaningtyas (2016:6), said that the caste system in
Bali represents one type of stratification, along with
kinshipties and gender distinctions, via the
maintenance of the institution of marriage and the
dominance of males over females. Women risk being
seen as pollutants in the system. Sadnyini (2016:5)
said that punishments for women marriage to men of
different castes are killed by jumping into the fire,
drowned in a sea with a stone tied around legs,
isolated, downgrading, not allowed to go home,
refined language. In Tarian Bumi’s novel, Telaga
Ayu Pidada and Wayan Samitha are isolated for their
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big family, down grading, and not allowed to go
home.
In the novel Sali, the author writes about the
plight of Papuan women because of the patriarchal
culture adopted there. The tradition of marriage
where men are obliged to give the dowry of some pigs
is a tradition that plunges many Papuan women into
suffering. Similarly, the sexual division of labor that
they embrace as a tradition is quite burdensome for
women.
Any man who wants to marry a woman, he should
see the social status of the woman's family. The
higher the social status of the woman's family, the
higher the dowry value in the form of pigs the family
wants. Bargaining the number of pigs is done by the
man with the father of the girl. If there is already an
agreement on the number of pigs to be given as
dowry, then a marriage agreement is made between
the girl's father and the young man without the need
to ask the girl's consent.
After officially becoming a husband and wife, the
woman entered the family of her husband and lived
in honei. There will be a sexual division of labor
where women work to cultivate, nurture children,
take care of the fields, cook and sell the field products.
Meanwhile, men are in charge of hunting and
fighting. However, since Papua became part of
Indonesia, the government gradually eliminated the
Papuans' fighting habits. After no more tribal wars,
the sexual division of labor is very beneficial for men
because they only serve to fight. Women remain in an
enormous amount of tasks. The man (husband) will
not be willing to help his wife's work on the grounds
that he has given his wife a number of pigs as an
exchange rate for the woman. This socio-cultural
change is not able to change the patriarchal value that
occurs in the Dani tribe in Papua.
4 CONCLUSIONS
A Javanese tradition in the Umar Kayam's novel Para
Priyayi which is represented through social
stratification of Javanese society divided into noble,
priyayi and wong cilik (common people); there is a
Balinese tradition in the novel Tarian Bumi by Oka
Rusmini shown by tradition and caste held firmly in
Bali; there is a tradition value of Dani tribe
community in Papua in the novel Sali by Dewi
Linggarsari related to tradition of marriage and
typical customs of Dani tribe. In the three novels also
show the existence of socio-cultural change in the
society in each culture. This socio-cultural change is
evolutionary, which means the cultural community in
the area undergoes a socio-cultural change slowly and
over a long period of time. In the novel shows that
there is a society that adapts to the value of socio-
cultural change, and also societies who oppose the
socio-cultural change they experience because of the
desire to maintain the tradition. In the three novels
show that there is a cultural change from tradition to
modernity due to the entry of Western culture, but the
change did not go well due to the clash of traditional
culture and the modernity culture.
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