Learning Lessons from Human Tragedies in the Drama

Kapai-kapai

Nur Sahid and Purwanto

Faculty of Performing Arts, Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta, Parangtritis Street Km 6,5, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Semiotics, social conflict, characterization, setting.

Abstract: This study aims to examine the structure of characterization of the Kapai-Kamat drama by Arifien C. Noer

with a theatre semiotics approach. Kapai-kapai's dramas are interesting because the problems presented by

the author are quite contextual to date even though they were written in 1979. This drama structure contains

many signs (sign) so that it needs to be analyzed using the theatre semiotics approach. Theatre semiotics

examines objects by interpreting a sign that is associated with the socio-cultural context. Drama scripts,

including Kapai-kapai, are semiotic symptoms, so researchers must regard the drama as a sign. The results of

this study are as follows. The Emak figure functions as a signifier (signifier) of power, while Abu signifies

(signifies) for the weak who are oppressed by power. The grandfather, who is religiously observant (signifier)

functions as a marker of humans who still consider religious values as a determinant of a better life direction

(signifies). The Mirror of Deception (signifier), which is always hunted by Abu, is a marker of uncertainty or

endless values (signifies). Employer figure II, who always calls Abu (signifier) with bell sound, is a marker

of the industrialization process that does not bring prosperity to the community (signifier). The social

background of the lower class where Abu and Emak are located (signifier) is a symbol of poverty that hit the

community (signifies).

1 INTRODUCTION

Sociologically and psychologically dramas can play

an important role in modern society, which always

deals with real and difficult life problems. Literary

works, including dramas, can bring benefits to life.

Dramas and other works of art generally cannot be

separated from human life and society. It is true that

Indonesia, as a developing nation, can live without

art. The view above implies that dramas cannot be

separated from life, meaning that it certainly can

enrich our spiritual life or experience. Life without art

means, to some extent, life without consciousness.

Thus, it feels right if one says that life without

literature will seem vulgar and rude.

One of the most noticeable benefits of dramas is

the role it plays in human mental development, which

is vital for balancing human material needs. It is

related to efforts to improve the spiritual ability to

appreciate all aspects of life and the prevailing norms

and values to achieve the greatest possible happiness

in life.

One way to carry out mental development is by

enjoying dramas. Dramas offer a deep understanding

of humans as well as the interpretation of and

reflection on every single event that happens in life.

Based on the story it tells, it turns out that Arifien C.

Noer’s drama entitled Kapai-kapai (1979) (literary a

struggle to get something) proves useful for attempts

to enrich insights of the nation’s people, especially in

relation to mental development of today’s people who

tend to deify more the values of materialism than

spiritual values.

In connection with the foregoing, in the following

analysis, the author will study the relevance of the

drama entitled Kapai-kapai as a means to sharpen the

nation’s intelligence, especially related to moral

education. This drama contains signs whose

significance needs to be studied further, for example,

the character named Abu. In this work, the author

limited the analysis only to the drama. This was based

on the consideration that compared to Arifien C.

Noer’s other dramas, moral values presented in

Kapai-kapai seem more intensive. The theory used to

study this drama was semiotics.

One of the characters that make Arifien C. Noer’s

dramas unique is the theme on which development of

the story is based. He often raised social issues that

526

Sahid, N. and Purwanto, .

Learning Lessons from Human Tragedies in the Drama Kapai-kapai.

DOI: 10.5220/0009447105260530

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities (ICONARTIES 2019), pages 526-530

ISBN: 978-989-758-450-3

arose amidst society. It can be said that Arifien is one

of a few Indonesian male dramatists with a great

commitment to social issues. His dramas often

revolve around the themes of unemployment,

economic poverty, moral (spiritual) poverty, and the

like as in the drama Kapai-kapai.

2 THEORIES OF SEMIOTICS

Semiotics includes a theoretical approach to art,

which is currently quite popular among artists and

scientists. It is the study of signs (Nur Sahid, 2012).

The signs have both meanings and significance,

which are determined by their convention. A drama is

comprised of various structures of meaningful signs.

The semiotic approach includes an analysis of literary

works, including dramas, as an example of language

use based on additional conventions including

features that give significance to various modes of

discourse (Preminger et al., 1974: 980). By looking at

variations in its structure or the relationship between

its elements, a drama will have various significance.

In fact, in addition to the denotative aspect, signs in a

drama inevitably have secondary significance for the

audience that connects them to social, moral, or

ideological values associated with a particular

community (Nur Sahid, 2012).

Semiologist Ferdinand de Saussure states that

signs in semiotics have two aspects, which are the

signifier that refers to a concept or form of signs that

mark the signified, which is the significance (Noth,

1990: 60). Various facts show that most language

signs are symbols. About literary works, Preminger et

al. state that language is the first-order semiotics,

while literature is the second-order semiotics (1974:

981). The meaning of language is a meaning, while

the meaning of literature is the meaning of meaning

or significance. In a drama analysis, semiotics

functions to determine significance to the literary

work because a drama as a literary work constitutes a

system of signs that have significance. Drama as an

artwork is not a single symbol, but more to a semiotic

unit network that employs work-related symbols (Nur

Sahid, 2017: 155).

Mchael Riffaterre suggests that determination of

the significance of a particular work as a system of

signs is also often referred to as an effort to examine

the significance of such signs (1982: 23). He argues

that a meaning (signified) does not lie “behind” the

sign (signifier), but the signifier is a sign which

implies a meaning that readers should try to figure

out. Literary works as a structure of signs is an

artefact that has no significance before their readers

interpret their significance (Vodicka in Teeuw, 1983:

191). The theories above were used to study drama

Kapai-kapai.

3 THE THEME OF THE DRAMA

Kapai-kapai

When creating a work of art, an artist starts with

discovering its basic concept. The basic concept of a

work of art is often referred to as a basic idea

(Stanton, 1965). The theme of a drama is the

accumulation of various problems that exist therein.

The problems in the drama Kapai-kapai concern

poverty, both financially and spiritually, of its

protagonist named Abu. The poverty that Abu and

Item (Abu’s wife) suffered was caused not only by

their ignorance but also by a social system that did not

give the oppressed opportunity to develop

themselves, except for those who had money, such as

the character Master. It was such a condition that

made it increasingly hard to bridge a social gap

between the poor (Abu and Item) and the rich (the

Master).

Abu’s poverty constitutes structural poverty, i.e. a

type of material poverty that was passed down from

generation to generation. The only asset owned by

Abu was a bamboo house that would flood every time

it rained. Even, he often could not afford food

(Arifien C. Noer, 1984: 52). Before being trapped in

extreme hunger suffering, they, to some extent, still

upheld religious values (the teachings of Islam), even

though it was not that intensive. For example,

formerly Abu and Iyem refused to eat pork as

instructed by the teachings of their religion. However,

they finally did not comply with this order any longer

as they felt so hungry that they could no longer resist

it (Arifien C. Noer, 1984: 67). The shift in the way of

life of both Abu and Iyem, from a religious one to

disobedient one, resulted from their poverty. Thus,

poverty had transformed them into human beings who

were kufr/infidels (denying their religious teachings).

The poverty also led Abu and Iyem to lose human

values and spiritual values as well. This can be seen

from the moment when they had the heart to kill a

newborn baby Iyem had just given birth on the

grounds that they were unable to feed the baby

(Arifien C. Noer, 1984: 52). Such an act conflicts

with not only human values, but also religious

teachings.

The problems in the drama Kapai-kapai are also

related to the tendency of the lower classes or the

common people (Abu) who are powerless and have

Learning Lessons from Human Tragedies in the Drama Kapai-kapai

527

no power to deal with pressure from various elements

of power (Mother). Mother tried to control Abu’s life

(the protagonist), and Abu seemed unable to get rid

of the influence of his mother. Since the beginning,

Abu had been bewitched by all the tales his mother

told him about various kinds of worldly beauty, such

as the Mirror of Deception, the beauty of the princess,

and a handsome and powerful prince. These made

him forget his bitter life. All the persuasions and tales

his mother and her servants told him were nothing

more than an attempt to plunge him into a deeper

valley of suffering.

Under conditions of quite repressive pressure, the

character Abu was like a robot that is easy to program

as the ruler wishes (the character Master). In front of

Mother, Abu was powerless, and so was he in from of

the character Master. Abu is the embodiment of the

lower classes with no economic or social power, and

so on. In his entire life, he often submitted himself to

the influence of other parties, such as Mother and her

servant, and the Master. Even in front of the character

Master, Abu completely did not show his dignity as a

human being. As labour working at his Master’s

place, Abu was easy to control and obedient. The

ways he worked and acted were so mechanical and

monotonous that if the bell rang, he would think that

it was his Master calling him.

Based on the problems mentioned above, it can be

concluded that the drama Kapai-kapai concerns the

tendency of modern humans who are blinded by

worldly values that they forget religious values,

making their life lack physical and mental happiness.

The characters Abu, Mother, and Master are victims

of modernization. Their suffering resulted from

deviating from transcendental values.

4 ANALYSIS OF SIGNIFICANCE

As mentioned in section A, this study will analyze the

drama Kapai-kapai using a semiotic approach

because the problems in Kapai-kapai manifest

themselves as signs, symbols, or signifiers that have

significance, or in short, the discussion of the

structure of Kapai-kapai was discussed further in its

semiotic framework. Thus, it is expected that this play

can be interpreted based on a broader perspective.

4.1 Symbolization of Power

In the analysis of the structure of Kapai-kapai, it has

been revealed that the character Mother had

enormous power. The character Abu was always in

the grip of her control. In semiotics, the character

Mother serves as the signifier. She is a symbol of

great power. She controlled Abu’s life as evident

from the beginning to the end of the story, where she

always controlled Abu’s life. On the other hand, Abu

also seemed unable to get rid of his mother’s

influence. Since the beginning, he had been

bewitched by all the tales his mother told him about

the Mirror of Deception, the beauty of the princess,

and a handsome and powerful prince. These made

him forget his real life. Because he was often tricked

into believing the dreams his Mother offered him, he

was often unable to deal with a tough life. All the

persuasions and tales his mother and her servants told

him were nothing more than an attempt to plunge him

into a deeper valley of suffering

Moreover, the character Mother was also quite

powerful to order the Moon and the Dark. She always

ordered the Moon to comfort Abu and the Dark to

torture Abu. The Dark and the Moon viewed Mother

as the character who had absolute power, making

them unable to refuse her orders. In semiotics, the

power which Mother and Master had can be

categorized as the signified, while the characters

Mother and Master who had such power are the

signifiers.

4.2 Symbolization of Religious Values

The presence of the character Grandfather in Kapai-

kapai reminds us of the character named Sabaruddin

in the play entitled Sumur Tanpa Dasar (A Well

without a Bottom) written by the same author. Both

figures instilled Islamic religious values into the

protagonist. In Kapai-kapai, Grandfather always

guided the protagonist’s life direction based on

religious teachings. Because the memory of the

Mirror of Deception had been imprinted on his mind,

Abu did not respond to Grandfather’s invitation. As a

result, Grandfather’s attempts to make him forget the

Mirror of Deception did not succeed.

As a man who believed in God, the character

Grandfather has fulfilled his obligations, namely to

call on others to live their life based on religious

teachings. Whether his attempt succeeded or not is

another matter. The character Grandfather also serves

a ritual function. This was evident at the time Abu

passed away, where he and Koor joined the others,

bringing Abu’s body to his grave. In semiotics, the

character Grandfather functions as the signifier while

the religious values demonstrated by his actions are

the signified, i.e. the aspect denoted by a sign.

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4.3 Symbolization of Endless Values

It is obvious that the title Kapal-kapai has a symbolic

meaning, namely a manifestation of the desire to

achieve something or, more precisely, the quest for

the Mirror of Deception. Actually the beauty and

magic of the Mirror of Deception existed only in the

imagination of Mother’s tale. Abu would never have

it because it was not real. If in the en, he managed to

get it as he passed away, it was useless. It means that

the Mirror of Deception was actually useless for Abu

because he already died when it was there. The values

are increasingly sought for, the more unclear the

existence. It all happened because these values were

not based on a clear concept. The values instilled by

Mother are different from the religious values

instilled by Grandfather. The values instilled by

Grandfather were grounded in a clear religious

concept, namely Islam. As a play writer, Arifien

seems to side with the character Grandfather. In the

semiotics of literature, the Mirror of Deception may

function as the signifier, while endless values

function as the signified.

5 CONOTATIVE MEANING

The explanation above provides an analysis

denotatively. The following section concern the

connotative analysis. Sociologically, Arifien C.

Noer’s way of life and the process of creating both

dramas are influenced by the actual social conditions

of Indonesia, which are characterized by the process

of social change that is extremely powerful. Social

change results from the process of modernization in

various aspects of life, including industrialization.

Industrialization promoted by the government in an

effort to increase the national economy turns out to

have an impact on the emergence of the culture of

materialism among the people. As a result, many

people worship money and other worldly goods and

no longer comply with transcendental values.

Today’s humans tend to adore worldly matters rather

than spiritual or transcendental matters.

In this case, Arifien, as an author and dramatist,

tried to respond to various negative effects of

modernization through his works, especially dramas.

In addition, it seems that he intends to express his

views on the shift in values in society as a result of

modernization. This drama is a manifestation of

Arifien C. Noer’s social criticism of Indonesia’s

development process which only emphasized an

economic approach, rather than a humanitarian one.

This results in a shift in the value system in society.

For Arifien C. Noer, the condition above is not right.

Thus it needs correction.

In a semiotic perspective, the drama Kapai-kapai

shows a variety of symbolic elements. The symbols

(signs) include symbolization of the values of power,

the symbolization of the oppressed, the symbolization

of religious values, and symbolization of endless

values. These symbols contradict one another. The

symbolization of the values of power is in opposition

to the symbolization of the oppressed, while

symbolization of religious values is opposed to

endless values.

Connotatively, the characters Abu and Iyem are

the symbolization of the oppressed. The dream of the

glitter of the palace with beautiful princesses, adorned

with diamonds and gems, with Abu as the Prince

represents Abu’s unconscious obsession trying to

escape from his tough life. Furthermore, when the

character Grandfather persuaded him to live his live

based on religious teachings in order that his life

would become better, he always refused it. Because

of his ignorance and illiteracy, Abu could not

understand his Grandfather’s view of the importance

of belief in God’s power that promises happiness in

the hereafter (Arifien C. Noer, 1984: 33-34).

Abu’s reluctance to follow Grandfather’s order to

understand religious teachings–instead of trying to

get the shadow of illusion, which is the Mirror of

Deception also has a connotative meaning. The

meaning is related to the fact that in the context of

modern society, people are more interested in the

illusion and imagination of worldly beauty which is

not real rather than the imagination of eternal

happiness in the hereafter. They prefer to worship

worldly happiness rather than preparing themselves

for life after death. The life tragedy that happened to

Abu constitutes a human’s suffering who believed too

much that worldly matters could give him inner and

outer happiness. The truth is in the absence of a

balance with spiritual matters that are based on divine

teachings; worldly matters will actually cause

sufferings, physically and spiritually.

6 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the analysis above, it can be concluded that

life suffering experienced by Abu is manifested in his

poverty and kufr in the course of his life. Poverty

made him focus on trying to get worldly beauty, even

if he did not succeed until he departed from life. On

the other hand, the divine teachings taught by

Grandfather were not implemented during his life,

making Abu a poor and kufr (did not comply with the

Learning Lessons from Human Tragedies in the Drama Kapai-kapai

529

teachings of his religion) human being at the same

time.

As an author, Arifien C. Noer does not seem to

allow the characters to look for a value system

between the two value systems. In Kapai-kapai, the

author seems to side with the character Grandfather,

who always reminded Abu to live according to the

religious teachings instructed by God. Abu’s death at

the end of the story was actually more to confirm that

the worldly values offered by Mother to Abu should

never be put into practice. In reality, these values had

caused Abu great suffering in the course of his life.

The existence of the character Grandfather who was

still alive until the end of the story, even

accompanying Abu’s body, is a sign that these values

should be implemented.

So, through the character Grandfather, Arifien C.

Noer tells the moral of the story to the readers. Arifien

did not let the readers find out on their own the moral

values of the plays. Instead, he clearly directed them

through the existence of the character Grandfather.

The drama results from social awareness so that it is

a pathway towards better social awareness. Through

the values offered, the author’s Grandfather invites

the readers to reflect on the importance of the

meaning of transcendental values as a counterweight

to the rampant spirit of materialistic values in modern

life. This is actually the moral education that the

author wants to convey to the readers. The moral

education is quite relevant to the historical, social

conditions of our society in this third millennium.

Even though Kapai-kapai was written 39 years ago,

but its significance is still relevant to today’s

conditions.

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