The Sounds of Grassroots: Peace Discourse in Nasida Ria's

International Relation Themed Songs

Fitria Zahrina Putri

, Ario Bimo Utomo

, Baskoro Aris Sansoko

Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia

UPN Veteran, Indonesia

Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia

Keywords: Nasida Ria, Discourse, Peace, International Relations, Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract: Nasida Ria is a qasidah group based in Semarang, Indonesia which has been active since 1975. This all-

woman group is well-known for playing the qasidah music, a genre popular for its Islamic content and it's the

middle-lower class audiences. Besides playing songs about Islam and domestic issues among women, Nasida

Ria had actually included international issues within their songs. Take for instance songs like “Damailah

Palestina” (Be in Peace, Palestine), “Tahun 2000” (The Year 2000), “Dunia Semakin Panas” (The World is

Getting Hotter), and “Dunia dalam Berita” (The World in News). This background has indeed become a

unique phenomenon, as qasidah is not common to raise issues about international relations. This article

attempts to discuss two questions: (1) how is peace discourse presented in Nasida Ria songs? and (2) how

peace discourse in Nasida Ria’s songs is related to other peace discourses? The authors use qualitative method

in order to answer those questions. We collect the data through two means: interviewing the Nasida Ria group

themselves and doing library research. The collected data are analyzed with Fairclough critical discourse

analysis. The authors found that the discourse on peace in Nasida Ria songs above have several characteristics

such as building for positive peace through equality and good environment, shared responsibilities in

achieving peace, and the importance of spirituality.

1 INTRODUCTION

Music had been considered as a part of diplomacy

process since the 16th century according to what

Castiglione wrote in The Courtier. This, however, did

not imply that music became a part of International

Relations studies; at least before International

Relations cultural turn in 1970s. In 1970s, efforts to

incorporate cultural aspect to United States foreign

policy made many facets of culture were being tried

to be put in US foreign policy analysis. Yet this didn’t

make the cultural analysis in International Relations

only be centered on US foreign affairs; it is also

directed to find and understand deep forces in

international relations. From this point, then, music

was more integrated in cultural dimension of

International Relations studies; not only to

understand how music can be used to mobilize a war,

but also to comprehend how music can be utilized in

peace-building (Prevost-Thomas & Ramel 2018, p.2).

However, compared to the other dimensions,

there is still a lack of music studies in International

Relations. Thus, the authors look toward Indonesia as

an endeavor to put Indonesia in light and develop

music and international relations studies in Indonesia.

There is a stigma or stereotype in Indonesia that

affairs in International Relations can only be

conferred, discussed, and voiced by fortunate people

or high-class elites. This, however, is not what the

authors found as an uncanny or unexpected

phenomenon in Indonesian music that can be related

to International Relations. Songs made by cross-

genres Indonesian musicians rarely talk about

international relations issues; even from musicians

whom are considered as high-class musicians in today

post-authoritarian era. The unexpected came from

Nasida Ria.

Nasida Ria is one of the modern qasidah

development pioneers in Indonesia. This all-woman

group was established in Semarang, Central Java by

H. Muhammad Zain at 1975. In its early age, Nasida

Ria music were heavily influenced with arabic

elements and their songs were fully in arabic. Nasida

Ria, until 2011, had already created 350 songs that

were consisted in 35 albums. While many of their

songs were talking about private issues, there are

Putri, F., Utomo, A. and Sansoko, B.

The Sounds of Grassroots: Peace Discourse in Nasida Ria’s International Relation Themed Songs.

DOI: 10.5220/0010273900002309

In Proceedings of Airlangga Conference on International Relations (ACIR 2018) - Politics, Economy, and Security in Changing Indo-Paciﬁc Region, pages 113-118

ISBN: 978-989-758-493-0

113

plenty of them that highlight public issues. Most of

their songs on public issues were conferring on

domestic-level; yet some of Nasida Ria songs were

explicitly voicing about international issues.

The authors realize that there are plenty of

research materials, theoretical perspectives, or angle

of view that can be used to analyze Indonesian music

related to International Relations; this realization is

followed by the realized need to limit the scope of our

research. Thus, the authors will focus this research in

finding peace discourse in 4 Nasida Ria International

Relations themed songs; they are “Damailah

Palestina” (Be in Peace, Palestine), “Tahun 2000”

(The Year 2000), “Dunia Semakin Panas” (The

World is Getting Hotter), and “Dunia dalam Berita”

(The World in News). Therefore, the authors will

heavily use discourse analysis in this research and

brief explanations for discourse analysis in

International Relations, peace discourse in

International Relations, and critical discourse

analysis itself are clearly needed.

1.1 Discourse Analysis in International

Relations

In recent years, the scholarship of International

Relations has brought the discursive turn. This

approach is epistemologically trying to divert away

from the traditional-positivistic way of reaching

knowledge. It challenges the notion that the world

contains objects which are “independent of ideas of

beliefs about them” and thus offering an alternative

which puts the emphasis on interpretation (Campbell

1993, p.7-8). Milliken (1999, p.226) describes that

discourse analysis presents a challenge toward the

“scientism” of International Relations which obsesses

itself with the search for scientific theories, laws, and

(seemingly) methodologies.

However, it is not to say that discourse analysis is

a flawless approach in International Relations. As a

seemingly deviant method of knowledge-seeking,

discourse analysis is seen to be a “bad science” due to

its lack in measurable theories as well as empirical

analyses. On the other hand, we argue that this

assumed weakness of discourse analysis has offered

another facet which turns it into another advantage.

Without the rigid and overly-standardized approach,

discourse analyses are able to cement itself as a useful

tool to initiate a more interdisciplinary approach

toward International Relations. By putting more

highlight on various attributes which we usually take

for granted, for instance languages, ideas, or beliefs,

discourse analysis provides deeper interpretations on

the “truth” which otherwise cannot be revealed

through traditional positivistic way of research.

1.2 Peace Discourses in International

Relations

The study of peace and war is widely considered as

the central theme of International Relations

scholarship. Therefore, it provides no doubt that the

theme remains the unlimited source of debates. Each

theory, accordingly, contributes different views on

what causes war and how the condition of peace is

established. The classical form of realism, for

instance, argues that peace and war finds its roots

from the violent tendency of human nature. The more

contemporary variants, such as neorealism and

neoliberalism, shift their focus from the dangerous

human nature toward the more practical and

measurable explanations. Neorealism, for instance,

departs from the common logic that international

system is an anarchic one, thus the states’ behavior is

mainly driven by the pursuit of power under such

condition (Mearsheimer 2001). Realism’s

counterpart, liberalism, provides another argument.

This theory departs from Kant’s work Perpetual

Peace (1975) saying that peace builds upon three

foundations: democracy, economic interdependence,

and international organizations. This position is even

still refined by neoliberal scholars such as Keohane

and Nye (1977) who pinpoint that it is not merely the

application of the three principles, but more of the

complex interdependence among those modern states

which puts a better precondition of peace.

Discourse theory provides a more radical

perspective on war and peace. Finding its roots from

a constructivist epistemological position, it supports

the notion that the way people perceive the issue

determines the further aspect of reality. Putting it to

the real case, discourse can be found through sources

such as speech acts, writings, signs, news releases, or

even products of art. Relating to the flexibility of

discourse as a tool of analysis, we regard that we can

approach peace through various lenses—not

exclusive to Western theories only. Thus, this paper

attempts to collaborate the discourse analysis with

Islamic views on peace. Regarding this issue, it is

obvious that Islam holds its own unique position. As

a religious ideology, Islam holds a position which

puts it differently from other secular ideologies.

Mirbagheri (2012, p.83) writes that that peace is “a

Divine condition of existence as experienced in

Paradise whilst enmity and war are attributes of

earthly affairs as the direct result of satanic deeds.”

Islam regards that the spiritual dimension of

ACIR 2018 - Airlangga Conference on International Relations

114

humankind cannot be independent from the condition

of peace, thus it transcends the material world. We

examine that this view aligns with Johan Galtung’s

view on the “positive peace” which does not only

constitute the absence of violence, hence “negative

peace”, but also the inclusion of integration of human

society (1964, p.2).

1.3 Fairclough Critical Discourse

Analysis

Discourses are forms of social practice. They are also

obviously texts (in the wider sense of the word). But

Fairclough’s framework adds a mediating third

dimension which focuses on discourse as a

specifically discursive practice (Fairclough

1992a,p.71). As Wodak and Meyer (2009) explain,

Fairclough highlights the semiotic reflection of social

conflict in discourses, which translates into his

interest in social processes (i.e. social structures,

practices and events). According to Chouliaraki and

Fairclough (1999), CDA can be helpful in theorizing

transformations and creating awareness "of what is,

how it has come to be, and what it might become, on

the basis of which people may be able to make and

remake their lives" (p. 4). With such an objective in

mind, Chouliaraki and Fairclough (1999) claim that

CDA of a communicative interaction sets out to show

that the semiotic and linguistic features of the

interaction are systematically connected with what is

going on socially, and what is going on socially is

indeed going on partly or wholly semiotically or

linguistically.

In this approach of CDA, there are three analytical

focuses in analyzing any communicative event

(interaction). They are text, discourse practice (e.g.

the process of production and consumption), and

sociocultural practice (e.g. social and cultural

structures which give rise to the communicative

event) (Fairclough 1995, p. 57; Chouliaraki &

Fairclough 1999, p. 113). Analysis of text involves

linguistic analysis in terms of vocabulary, grammar,

semantics, the sound system, and cohesion-

organization above the sentence level (Fairclough

1995, p. 57). The next analytical focus of Fairclough's

three-part model is discourse practice. In this second

dimension we will see the content of ideology or

understanding of the processes of text production and

text consumption. Meanwhile, the forming of the

discourse can be a background knowledge,

interpretation and context. Meanwhile, the last

dimension is socio-cultural practice; it is how social

context out of the text can influence the discourse.

2 METHODS

This study applied Fairclough’s Critical Discourse

Analysis with qualitative approach. Creswell (2009)

states that qualitative research is a means for

exploring and understanding the meaning individuals

or groups ascribe to a social or human problem. Data

collection in this study was first conducted by

determining the object of the study. There are 7 songs

of Nasida Ria which related with international

relations, however the authors reduced it into 4 songs

that best fit the category of various peace discourse:

“Damailah Palestina” (Be in Peace, Palestine),

“Tahun 2000” (The Year 2000), “Dunia Semakin

Panas” (The World is Getting Hotter), and “Dunia

dalam Berita” (The World in News). Then after that

the supporting data is collected through in-depth

interview with Choliq Zain, Nasida Ria’s manager, as

well with library study to complete the information.

As for data analysis, the first level analysis on textual

dimension, which is the song’s lyrics, is used to

answer the first research question. On this part, the

authors heavily focus on the using of linguistics

features such as vocabularies and grammars.

Meanwhile, the results of the interview and library

study were used to answer the second research

question. Finally, after the analysis part was done, the

writer drew the conclusion about peace discourse in

Nasida Ria’s songs and how it is related with other

peace discourse.

3 RESULTS & DISCUSSION

3.1 Textual Analysis

The focus of this part is on the textual level proposed

by Fairclough as the first dimension of his discourse.

4 songs were used and their vocabularies and

grammar features were broken down by taking small

pieces of the lyrics that represent peace discourse.

3.2 Damailah Palestina (Be in Peace,

Palestine)

One thing that the authors noticed is the rare presence

of any active subjects used to do any significant

actions to frame any actors responsible behind the

wars. Even when an active subject appears, it is the

word “world”, as quoted below:

“Dunia jangan adu domba Palestina” (O world,

do not instill enmity in Palestine)

The Sounds of Grassroots: Peace Discourse in Nasida Ria’s International Relation Themed Songs

115

“Bantulah perdamaian Palestina” (Bring

assistance for peace in Palestine)

The scarcity of active subjects “world” has

implications in the possible reception of the song. The

word “world” emphasizes the sense of unity since it

does not reach specific race, class, age, religion, nor

ideology. It means that peace is a shared

responsibility and it will not be simply established

with one or two nations but the cooperation of many.

3.3 Tahun 2000 (The Year 2000)

Tahun 2000 was published in 1982 and it speaks

about future condition of the year 2000. First of all,

the song attached the year 2000 with the words hope

(noun), challenge (noun), and worrying (verb), as

quoted below.

“Tahun dua ribu tahun harapan”, (The year

2000, the year of hope)

“Yang penuh tantangan dan mencemaskan”

(which is full of challenges and worrying)

The expressive word of “hope” then attached to

the noun “machine”, as what depicted as hope is the

development of machines that ease human’s life starts

from walking, running, eating, sleeping, and working.

However, the next expressive word “challenge” then

attached to the noun pengangguran (unemployment),

as the rapid growing of such modernization could

cause human resources to be less needed and replaced

by machines instead. The next expressive word,

which is “worrying”, attached to the noun

pencemaran (pollution). Not only those machines

could bring quite a challenge for human in the year

2000, but also bring more harm regarding to

environment degradation, since many green lands

will be replaced by factories or other buildings.

3.4 Dunia Semakin Panas (The World

is Getting Hotter)

This particular song was published around the end of

1980s and speaks about the world that is getting hotter

and feels cramped due to the harsh economic

situation. However, the situation then was questioned

by the song: is it the world that is hot and cramped, or

is it our hearts? This song walks on different path

when talking about peace since unlike the other two

songs above; it talks about spiritual peace. In this part,

the using of metaphors will be discussed.

“Bumi tempat luas langit terang benderang” (the

earth is spacious, he sky is bright)

“Banyak jalan lapang menuju bahagia” (there

are many large ways towards happiness)

As quoted above, one needs to be an obedient

God’s servant thus the world feels spacious and the

sky is bright. All of these are basically metaphors to

explain that one’s happiness is not based on how

much wealth one possessed but by how one

communicates and be thankful to one’s God.

3.5 Dunia dalam Berita (The World in

News)

This is the partof the lyric that represent the whole

structure of the song:

“Ada yang kelaparan menantikan santunan”

(There are who starve waiting for donation)

“Yang satu berlebihan yang lain kekurangan”

(One has plenty while the other have few)

This song is structured this way to contrast

between the fortunate and the unfortunate. This

structure, related to the title of the song, does clearly

try to show that how the world is separated by

disparity that is created from inequality.

3.6 Intertextuality in Nasida Ria’s

Songs

Next, Fairclough outlines that intertextuality is the

following stage of discourse analysis. Intertextuality

is defined as how certain texts can shape the creation

of other texts. This stage attempts “to reach

explanatory understanding of how particular sorts of

text are connected with particular forms of social

practice” (Fairclough 1992b, p.269). In this case, we

are more interested in examining the concepts of

International Relations which we assume have

influenced the lyrics of Nasida Ria’s songs. Our

findings indicate that there are several International

Relations narratives which we can find within the

lyrics.

The first narrative which we examine is peace.

Considerably all of the four songs which we picked

have put this theme as their main narrative. If we are

to put Galtung’s concept on positive and negative

peace toward this discussion, then we can see that all

presented songs discuss the grand narrative on peace.

Take “Damailah Palestina” for instance, which

stands out as it brings out the theme of negative peace

into discussion. The former mentions the urgent need

to end violence in Palestine by highlighting the

similarity of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as the

“agama samawi” (religion of the heavens) as well as

the common owner of the Palestinian land. At the end

of the lyrics, the singer calls for the respective

adherents to return to God’s teaching on peace. On

the other hand, other songs like “Tahun 2000”,

ACIR 2018 - Airlangga Conference on International Relations

116

“Dunia Semakin Panas”, and “Dunia dalam Berita”

highlight the issue on building the preferable

structural condition of peace—something which

Galtung prescribes to create the state of positive

peace. In “Dunia dalam Berita”, the song narrates the

singer’s experience of watching the current affairs of

the world, where various phenomenon occur such as

war, arms race, draught, and poverty.

The different facet which is apparent within

Nasida Ria songs is how they put importance on

universalism. This is distinctively apparent in the

“Damailah Palestina” song. The lyrics describe

Palestine as a harmed corner of the world which is as

well the home of the three major religions. We argue

that this neutral position does not contradict the

values of Islam as the religion itself still aligns with

the concept of universal peace. We can see this

through the argument of Mirbagheri (2012), saying

that while Islam acknowledges the division of

humankind, virtue is the only thing which

differentiate each other (p.90). He specifically cites

the verse 32 of surah Al-Maidah, which asserts “if

anyone slew a person it would be as if he slew the

whole of mankind; and if he saved a life, it would be

as if he saved the whole of mankind.”

Another interesting aspect of Nasida Ria’s songs

is how they correlate the international issues with the

imperatives to increase one’s spiritual qualities. It is

therefore can be suggested that in the Islamic peace

discourse, spiritual matters are something which

cannot be separated from the context of

peacebuilding. This makes Nasida Ria a unique

grassroots actor in disseminating the global issues.

Using Islam as the grand narrative, they have

successfully transcends the religious aspects by

entering the seemingly-mundane realms such as

international peace and war.

3.7 Sociocultural practices

Based on the authors interview to Choliq Zain, today

Nasida Ria manager, son of H. Muhammad Zain, he

told the authors that KH Achmad Buchori Masruri did

not only read Islamic classic books (kitab kuning);

Masruri had a fondness in reading articles of

scientific journals especially from Bandung Institute

of Technology. Choliq Zain also added that Masruri

was an alumnus from Institut Agama Islam Negeri

Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; it is one of

the islamic university in Indonesia. These influenced

Masruri in writing lyrics of Nasida Ria songs. Choliq

Zain, however, did not know the titles of the books

often read by KH Achmad Buchori Masruri and the

authors, unfortunately, could not find information

about it.

The titles of the books are important because all

of the four songs were published before internet

entered Indonesia. Internet first entered Indonesia in

1994 yet the four songs were published around 1980s.

This implies that KH Achmad Buchori Masruri must

have vast amount of information resources giving

consideration to some details in Nasida Ria songs’

lyrics. Some of the details can be found in their song

lyrics like “Australia kebanjiran, Afrika kekeringan”

(Australia severed from flood, Africa severed from

drought) which shows that Masruri had access to

information of floods in Australia and droughts in

Africa; the latter was probably a stereotype, but the

former need an information access. It also can be

found in “Ada yang membuat peluru kimia terlaknat”

(There is a one who make cursed chemical

ammunition) which also shows that Masruri had

access on information about chemical weapon.

There is one interesting finding specifically

related to Palestine. Nasida Ria published song titled

“Damailah Palestina” (Be in Peace Palestine)

between 1978 and 1985. The publishing year is

clearly before Palestinian Declaration of

Independence in 1988; a declaration of independence

that is done by Palestine Liberation Organization

(PLO). This, then, shows that the Palestine mentioned

in Nasida Ria song is not the Palestine that declared

independence in 1988. The Palestine in Nasida Ria

songs are likely used to refer to the region that was

formerly ruled by Ottoman Sultanate but then lost to

British because of World War I. This implicates that

the sought peace is not in Palestine as an independent

state for at them time the state did not exist yet; but in

Palestine as a region which its area is contested

between states and religious communities.

This, however, is not surprising considering his

Nahdlatul Ulama’s background. Nahdlatul Ulama

(NU) is one of the largest and oldest Islamic

organization often considered as the face of moderate

Islam. Since the beginning of Nahdlatul Ulama, NU

put concerns to Palestine far before Indonesia

independence. NU founder, KH Hasyim Al-Asy’ari,

had frequent communications with Sheikh

Muhammad Amin Al-Husaini, British-appointed

Muslims leader of British Mandate of Palestine. Until

today, Nahdlatul Ulama advocates for peace in

Palestine region and, different with many Islamic

groups that are usually influenced by transnational

Islamist ideologies, does not necessitate the

annihilation of Israel (Rijal 2017). It means that there

is always consideration for other options like two-

state or one all-new state solution in Palestine region.

The Sounds of Grassroots: Peace Discourse in Nasida Ria’s International Relation Themed Songs

117

Nasida Ria songs are also usually quoted by

Islamic preachers in Indonesia especially preachers

affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama. While there have

not been any information on which songs are often

quoted, but this gives a partial picture of Nasida Ria

songs’ influence in (at least, Javanese middle-lower

class) Indonesia Muslims. Messages in the quoted

songs will be internalized with more ease to the

Islamic preachers’ audiences.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results above, the authors conclude that

peace discourse in Nasida Ria international themed

songs have several important aspects. The first aspect

of the peace discourse is the necessity to have absence

of war and go beyond negative peace; achieve

positive peace. In order to achieve positive peace,

Nasida Ria songs indicate the need to have structural

changes to overcome wealth inequality and prevent

further environmental degradation. The second aspect

of the peace discourse is universalism or shared

responsibilities in building peace. Nasida Ria songs

never put weight of responsibility to achieve peace on

a third specific subject. Their songs indicate that the

effort to achieve peace should be rooted from

personal community or group contemplation and the

efforts have to be done with other communities and

groups. The third aspect of the peace discourse in

Nasida Ria songs is the importance of spirituality.

Different with secular perspectives on peace which

often have to be empirical, Nasida Ria songs indicate

that good condition of spirituality is also important

component in achieving peace. Nasida Ria

international themed songs peace discourse can be

shown to be partially parallel to liberalism

perspective on peace based on its emphasize on

shared responsibilities; some parts are parallel to left

thought based on its highlight on inequality; some

parts are parallel to environmentalist; yet all of them

are claimed to be based on Islamic teaching with

additional of the importance of spirituality.

REFERENCES

Campbell, D., 1993. Politics without principle: sovereignty,

ethics, and the narratives of the Gulf War (p.33).

Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Chouliaraki, L. & Fairclough, N., 1999. Discourse in Late

Modernity : Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis.

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Creswell, J., 2009. Research Design Qualitative,

Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches.

California: Sage Publication, Inc.

Croucher, A. 2013. The Discursive Turn in International

Relations: Bad Science? [Online] Available at:

http://www.e-ir.info/2013/10/16/the-discursive-turn-

in-international-relations-research-bad-science/

[Accessed 8 Mei 2018].

Fairclough, N., 1992a. Discourse and Social Change.

London: Polity Press.

Fairclough, N., 1992b. Intertextuality in critical discourse

analysis. Linguistics and education, 4(3-4), pp.269-

293.

Fairclough, N., 1995. Media Discourse. London: Edward

Arnold.

Galtung, J., 1964. An editorial: what is peace

research. Journal of Peace Research, 1(1), pp.1-4.

Kant, I., 1795. Perpetual Peace: A Philosopical Sketch.

[Online] Available at:

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/kant/kant1.

htm [Accessed 8 Mei 2018].

Keohane, R.O. and Nye, J.S., 1977. Power and

interdependence.

Mearsheimer, J.J., 2001. The tragedy of great power

politics. WW Norton & Company.

Milliken, J., 1999. The study of discourse in international

relations: A critique of research and methods. European

journal of international relations, 5(2), pp.225-254.

Mirbagheri, S.F., 2012. War and Peace in Islam: A Critique

of Islamic/ist Political Discourses. Springer.

Prévost-Thomas, C. & F, R., 2018. Introduction:

Understanding Musical Diplomacies—Movements on

the “Scenes”. In: C. Prévost-Thomas & R. F, eds.

International Relations, Music, and Diplomacy: Sounds

and Voices on the International Stage. Paris: Science

Po, pp. 1-19.

Rijal, M. Z., 2017. Nahdlatul Ulama dan Solidaritas

Palestina. [Online]

Available at:

http://www.nu.or.id/post/read/84031/nahdlatul-ulama-

dan-solidaritas-palestina

[Accessed 8 Mei 2018].

Suara Merdeka, 2011. Kasidah, Ya Nasida Ria.... [Online]

Available at:

http://suaramerdeka.com/v1/index.php/read/cetak/201

1/07/31/154449/Kasidah-Ya-Nasida-Ria[Accessed 8

Mei 2018].

Wodak, R. & Meyer, M., 2009. Critical Discourse Analysis:

History, Agenda, Theory and Methodology. In:

Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London:

SAGE, pp. 1-33.

ACIR 2018 - Airlangga Conference on International Relations

118