Madura Cultural Identity Construction in
Contemporary Indonesian Literature
S.Wasono
1
, S.R. Rusdiarti
2
, F.S. Nariswari
3
{sunu_wasono@yahoo.com
1
}
Department of Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Indonesia
Abstract. The rapid advancement of digital technology and mass communication has had
a tremendous impact on human life. In the literary context, this condition undoubtedly
affects the writer's thought, orientation, and creativity. The thinning boundaries of local
and global cultures due to the "unifying" of this universe allow the stimuli and thoughts of
people living in certain areas to penetrate the boundaries of space. In literary works, the
results may no longer represent the thoughts and culture in which the author was born and
grew up. This research will focus on the construction of Madurese literary cultural identity
in the context of contemporary Indonesian literature. By using ethnographic research
methods and deepened by the concept of collective cultural identity from Stuart Hall, it
was found that literary life in Madura moves dynamically in the tug of war between local
and global cultural roots, and a new generation of Madurese writers offers a new cultural
identity construction that is more laden with social criticism and humanity.
Keywords: cultural identity, identity construction, local cultures, Madurese literature
1 Introduction
As a large and pluralistic country, Indonesia has a very rich literature and is coloured by
the local cultures from Aceh to Papua. Madura, is one of the local colours that has contributed
a lot to the diversity of Indonesian literature. Global issues compete strongly with the locality
and cultural identity of Madura to become a story. Themes of pilgrimage, ancestors, local rituals,
or clashes with customs are issues that almost always appear in Madurese literature. These issues
are then collided with national and global issues which will lead to dilemma problems for the
figures. The thinning boundaries of local and global cultures due to the "unifying" of this
universe allow the stimuli and thoughts of people living in certain areas to penetrate the
boundaries of space. In literary works, the results may no longer represent the thoughts and
culture in which the author was born and grew up.
There are not many studies on Madurese literature in the context of contemporary
Indonesian literature. Several writings discuss traditional Madurese literature using the
Madurese language. Azhar[1], Sari[2] and Irsyad[3] discuss the Madurese people and their basic
character in traditional poetry, folk tales and short stories. Local wisdom in Madura is also
discussed in the context of how it is applied in everyday life[4]. Meanwhile, Fatmawati[5]
reveals the image of women and the thick patriarchal culture in Madura in a short story by
Mahwi Air Tawar. In the context of world literature, studies of literature and cultural identity
can be found in articles Kenyeres[6], Ojaide [7] and Sarikaya[8].
BASA 2020, November 04, Solok, Indonesia
Copyright © 2021 EAI
DOI 10.4108/eai.4-11-2020.2314218