The Construction of Cultural Identity on “Tamu dari Jakarta” Short Story

Abstract

Identity is liquid and changeable as time goes by. The change of identity is possible since identity can be formed both from the past and from the future. In the case of cross culture, one’s identity may have certain problems especially in determining cultural identity. Problems in cultural identity have become an interesting topic to be discussed. It was also an interesting topic for writer to color their literature work.

The focus of this research is the cultural identity in “Tamu dari Jakarta” (2002) short story by Jujur Prananto. This story brings out an interesting topic about a villager named Ratna who move into a big city (Jakarta). Problem of cultural identity was clearly seen when she visited her hometown (Klaten), the villagers no longer see her as one of them instead the saw her as a visitor or according to the title of this short story, a guest from Jakarta.

The form of this research is a textual analysis research using the concept of cultural identity by Stuart Hall. This research shows that the cultural identity of Ratna is constructed through positioned and positioning identity that is shown from the cross-cultural interaction between characters in this story. Furthermore, the proses of being positioned and positioning was based on the stereotype of Jakarta citizen. However this story gave a different view and new insight on the stereotype of Jakarta citizen.  

Keywords: cultural identity, cross-cultural, Jakarta citizen