IndoLit - Final Paper

Semar Gugat : The Representation of Humanity Issues of the World
Maria Yosefine Ratri A. W | 164214097
Indonesian Literature Final Paper
Indonesia is the one of a lot of country in the world that has many uniqueness. There are
various kind of uniqueness that Indonesian people make, for example the uniqueness of the
social life, cultural art, traditional dance and song, and also the literary works. In Indonesia,
literary works itself is such an important thing and has many functions. Through literary works,
many Indonesian people can evolve and explore their creativity. People can also show their
protest against government or portray their live condition in that time. However, besides
Indonesia has several literary works that are already worldwide, there are many Indonesian
literary works ruled out even though it has good stories and also the moral messages that also
interested than other literary works. One of the excluded of Indonesian literary work is Semar
Gugat.
The book titled Semar Gugat is written by N. Riantiarno in November 1995. Semar
Gugat itself narrate about Semar's disappointment to Arjuna who was the king of Madukara
because "kuncung" or the topknot of Semar was cut by Arjuna. Arjuna cut the “kuncung” of
Semar because he had promised his fiancée, Srikandi, to give Semar’s kuncung as the
requirement for their marriage. Semar feels very shy and humiliated. Actually, Srikandi in that
time is not the real Srikandi. When asking Arjuna to cut Semar’s kuncung, Srikandi is being
possessed by Durga, who is one of Arjuna's wives who is jealous of Srikandi. Semar decided to
go back to his kind of hometown named Kahyangan and ask Batara Guru and Batara Narada to
changed him into his old-look, the most handsome guy. Semar changed not only his look, but
also his name to be Prabu Sanggadonya Lukanurani. After that, Semar lead a kingdom, Simpang
Bawana Nuranitis Asri, and appoint Semar and Gareng as the officials. Unfortunately, Semar's
wife named Sutiragen did not want to be the queen because she did not believe that Prabu
Sanggadonya was Semar. once again Semar felt disappointed and sad. Durga also destroy
Amarta and move her people that consist of demons to there. The condition of the world is
getting worse. Semar can't stand the chaos that happened. Finally, he challenged Arjuna and
Srikandhi to compete their power. Semar has a very feared power, namely "Kentut Semar", like
its name, Semar used his power of fart to beat Arjuna. However, that power did not work
because Semar's appearance was Prabu Sanggadonya, not Semar. Semar finally begged the gods
in Kahyangan again to return him to the ugly Semar. In the end of the story, Semar realized his
loss and feel regretted again.
Nowadays, in the era of globalization, Semar Gugat is not well-known rather than the
other novel. This book also uses characters from Javanese puppet characters, but in different
plot. Whereas, if we read this book, we will not feel bored because this book presented in
interesting language and interspersed with several elements of humor, but do not leaving the
main plot. The story is started with poem that depicted Semar in literary way and for the ending,
N. Riantiarno also used a poem titled “Nyanyian Suci Jagat Raya”. Semar Gugat itself printed in
the form of drama script, not like the novel. Based on the using of the languages, the reader who
do not have knowledge to Javanese and English language will confused to understand the
meaning since this book using three languages which are Indonesian, Javanese and English.
However, these three languages make this book more unique than the other work because to
know deeply about the story we must understand the languages. Although this book used 3
languages to deliver the story, Semar Gugat is one of the books which relate the humanity issues
in the context of global world.
There are lots of humanity issues not only in Indonesia itself but also the humanity issues
of the world that contained in this book by N. Riantiarno. In the beginning of the story, Petruk,
one of the sons of Semar said to his father, “So, we have to follow the leader, daddy? Yes?” and
Semar said “Ha, inggih, Petruk, Sampeyan leres.”. From these two conversations, we can see the
correlation of the humanity issues. Nowadays, many people are just only wanted to accept what
the leader wants as a form of trust and it represents the existence of people who only accept
anything without participating to express their opinions. This statement is not good because as
the citizens, we should participate and give our opinion in order to justify if the government take
the wrong system or statement. Next, Semar Gugat represented the arbitrary of the government.
It describes in the scene when Arjuna cut off Semar’s “kuncung”. Nowadays, there are many
leaders who want to make a country based on his or her own opinion. Furthermore, they will do
anything to make it happen. For example, he or she will make an individual statement or rules
that adjust their citizens’ life arbitrarily. People who do not have any power then cannot act
anything and just obeying. In Semar Gugat, Arjuna represented this phenomenon. Arjuna cut
Semar's kuncung only to obey his fiancé’s will, and Semar, who did not have any strength to
fight, could only obey and conceal his sadness and disappointment. From the explanation above,
we can find out that even less-known Indonesian literary work can also represent humanity
issues in Indonesia or even in the context of the world.
In the conclusion, we found that Indonesia is unique, especially their literary work. We
can find out the uniqueness of Indonesian literary work through the book Semar Gugat by N.
Riantiarno. However, the weakness of this book is the using of 3 languages in the conversation
that requires the readers to understand these three languages in order to understand the deep
meaning of the story. Several scenes and dialog, for example when Semar said to Petruk to obey
the leader represented that many people are just only wanted to accept what the leader wants as a
form of trust and it represents the existence of people who only accept anything without
participating to express their opinions. Next, when Arjuna cut Semar’s kuncung, it represents the
arbitrary of the government. Semar Gugat is one of the literary works that less-known by the
people but have several correlations to the humanity issues in Indonesia also in the context of the
world.
References
Riantiarno, N. (1995). Semar Gugat. Yogyakarta: Yayasan Bentang Budaya.

IndoLit - Final Paper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

IndoLit - Final Paper

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

IndoLit - Final Paper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Semar Gugat : The Representation of Humanity Issues of the World

Maria Yosefine Ratri A. W | 164214097

Indonesian Literature Final Paper

You might also like