Cultural Artifacts and the Values of Its Sacred for the Asmat Tribe Community in Papua: Novels by Ani Sekarningsih

Herman Didipu, Setya Yuwana Sudikan, Haris Supratno

2019

Abstract

This research aimed at describing and interpreting the sacred values of cultural artifacts for society of Asmat Tribe in Papua. The approach used was literary anthropology approach by utilizing the Clifford Geertz’s concept. Research data sourced from 2 ethnographic novels by Ani Sekarningsih entitled Namaku Teweraut (2000) and Osaka Anak Asmat (2002). Utilizing the descriptive interpretative method, the data analysis done by three stages, namely: first, reading novels intensively while identifying cultural artifact, second, deeply understanding parts which is identified, and third, interpreting the meaning behind every cultural artifact. The research revealed 4 kinds of cultural artifacts which had values of sacred for Asmat Tribe community, they are sculpture, ancestors milestone statue or mbis, custom home jew, and body decoration. The findings explain that the sculpture for Asmat is a form of harmony of life with natural surroundings, as well as the spiritual embodiment of Asmat community to the ancestors. Further, Ancestors milestone statue or mbis contain spiritual values because it is believed as a place of ancestors’ spirit reside while the custom home jew containing sacred values as a centre of tradition. The last, the body decoration is a symbol of self-unification with natural surroundings and environment. The sacred value of cultural artefacts for the Asmat tribe community essentially departs from five main functions, namely the spiritual function, ecological function, aesthetic function, social function, and economic function.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Didipu H., Sudikan S. and Supratno H. (2019). Cultural Artifacts and the Values of Its Sacred for the Asmat Tribe Community in Papua: Novels by Ani Sekarningsih.In Proceedings of the International Conference on Education, Language and Society - Volume 1: ICELS, ISBN 978-989-758-405-3, pages 196-202. DOI: 10.5220/0008996401960202

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icels19,
author={Herman Didipu and Setya Yuwana Sudikan and Haris Supratno},
title={Cultural Artifacts and the Values of Its Sacred for the Asmat Tribe Community in Papua: Novels by Ani Sekarningsih},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Education, Language and Society - Volume 1: ICELS,},
year={2019},
pages={196-202},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0008996401960202},
isbn={978-989-758-405-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the International Conference on Education, Language and Society - Volume 1: ICELS,
TI - Cultural Artifacts and the Values of Its Sacred for the Asmat Tribe Community in Papua: Novels by Ani Sekarningsih
SN - 978-989-758-405-3
AU - Didipu H.
AU - Sudikan S.
AU - Supratno H.
PY - 2019
SP - 196
EP - 202
DO - 10.5220/0008996401960202