The culture sumarah and tirakat in Indonesian literature of local color of Java: Ethnography study

Abstract

This research aims to describe the culture sumarah and tirakat, a philosophy found in Java society, which is reflected in Indonesian literature of local color of Java. Formulation of the problem is what cultural values are denoted in culture of sumarah (submitting to God’s fate after trying hard) and tirakat (keeping awake during the night, reflecting on what has been done, wishing something). The method used in this research was ethnography, with qualitative description technique. The data collection was carried out through participant observation, long term in-depth interviews with informants. Observation of sumarah and tirakat was done by observing conversations between characters in text, taken from novel Sri Sumarah by Umar Kayam, and novel Canting by Arswendo Atmowiloto. The results showed that culture sumarah in Mrs. Sri Sumarah’s character and culture tirakat in Mrs. Bei’s character, which has been a part of mostly Javanese ethnicity, is still relevant until now. Sumarah and tirakat adhere well to their natural and cultural surroundings. The people help the spread of sumarah and tirakat from one area to another and make it a philosophy form immensely rich and intricate as can be seen from the examples given. This philosophy can make someone be a fully functioning person. Such kind of person is needed in multi ethnicity and multi-culture in the world.