Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 644
International Symposium on Religious Literature and Heritage (ISLAGE 2021)
Philosophical Meaning in the Syaer's Oral
Tradition of Lampung Pepadun
Roveneldo Roveneldo1,*, Mukhammad Isnaeni1
National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Corresponding author. Email: roveneldo2011@gmail.com
1
*
ABSTRACT
This study describes the vitality of the oral tradition of Syaer Lampung, which grows and develops in the
community of Lampung Pepadun. This effort was made to provide a complete understanding and description of
words and sentences in the Syaer's oral literature. The researchers use a qualitative approach in four sets to achieve
this goal, namely data collection, data verification, data presentation analysis, and conclusions. Researchers found
the philosophical meaning contained in Syaer's oral literature as an advice from ancestors for future generations.
The advice inserted in every stanza of Syaer's oral literature is to have a noble character, be responsible, be kind,
staying away from detrimental actions to oneself and others. Another philosophical meaning in Syaer's stanza is
the command to obey Allah and stay away from His prohibitions. Researchers also found indications of the vitality
of Syaer's oral literature, which began to fade among its users. It was found that there was a substantial change in
the use of language in Syaer's stanza from Lampung to Indonesian. Based on these findings, the researchers
suggested that the conservation for Syaer was necessary.
Keywords: oral tradition, syaer, Lampung language, Pepadun, vitality
1. INTRODUCTION
The oral tradition, which is called the equation of
oral literature in Indonesian society, has the
characteristics of a literary work in poetry, prose,
singing, and verbal drama. However, some say the
same for ordinary humans to signify the difference
between oral tradition and oral literature. Not a few
also stated differently. In connection with this,
Endraswara [1] argues that oral literature is the result
of work. Oral tradition is a strategy or a process.
Therefore, the oral process that produces literature is
called oral literature.
Sibarani [2] states that the word tradition comes
from the Latin traderere or tradere meaning 'to
transmit, to hand over, and to give for safekeeping.' As
a noun category, tradition means a habit passed down
from one generation to another for a long time to
become part of people's social life. Tradition contains
three meanings: 1) knowledge and processes correlate
with a sense of continuity and with shared material,
customs, and verbal expressions practiced by a group
of people; 2) creation and confirmation of identity
which relevant to selection; and 3) identification of
traditions for those who are still looking for their
identity.
On the other hand, from creating or establishing
identity
through
meaningful
participation,
identification requires people to make efforts. The
need for courage and enthusiasm for expressing
culture to the community has been inherited from their
ancestors. So far, there is evidence that has discussed
the oral tradition carried out by Turaeni [3], which
describes
the
function
and
meaning
of
the cecangkriman oral tradition for the Balinese
people. The findings of the cecangkriman include as a
medium for sharpening one's intelligence or reasoning
power, as a joke, as a sense of social solidarity, and
also as a meaning that can be used as an educational
tool in introducing the values of local wisdom, to
children, especially oral tradition culture.
There is also a discussion of oral literature
expressed by Labbiri [4] regarding the function
of kelong oral literature in the people of the Makassar
area. Kelong oral literature has a role as a medium of
education, entertainment, motivation, and fighting
spirit, as a medium of communication, and as a
product of cultural preservation.
Badara & Dinar [5] study oral literature as a
'treasure' of the Tolaki people, who live in Kendari
City and Kolaka Regency, Southeast Sulawesi
Province. The types of Tolaki oral literature
are mosehe, moanggo, kinoho, and folk songs. Folk
Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
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Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 644
songs (folk songs) are passed down from generation to
generation. Folk songs are often not known when it
was created and who created them. In general, the
people who own it (folk songs) know of their existence
through the writings of their predecessors.
However, in general, the meaning contained in folk
songs is to express everything related to human life,
such as expressions of sadness, sincerity, loyalty, love,
and change. The noble values in the folk song's lyrics
include being good at understanding the secrets of life,
understanding life wisely, and improving character
[6].
A visual study of how the oral tradition
of gulung was revealed by Mursalin. Through video
documentation that can be accessed on YouTube,
Mursalin teaches how to preserve the culture left by
his ancestors. This art from Ketapang Regency is still
maintained, sustainable, and developing even though
it is no longer popular. Occasionally this oral tradition
is still held at weddings, official government events,
circumcisions, and thanksgiving events. The content
in gulung is usually about an ongoing event or the
stories behind it.
Oral literature has a close relationship with local
customs and culture. Oral literature of a community
may have diversity. This diversity is a characteristic of
certain areas [7]. For example, the Lampung Province
area has culture, language, and customs. The Lampung
community is one of the people in Indonesia who has
two regional languages: dialect O and dialect A, as
well
as
cultural
customs,
namely Pepadun and Saibatin, by having each oral
tradition that is rich in meaning [8]
Lampung oral tradition plays a role in civilization,
outlook on life, association, and others. Lampung oral
tradition consists of hahiwang, wawancan or
pepaccur, bebandung, talibun, sasikun, saganing or
teteduhan, syaer or bubiti, Lampung classic songs,
mantra, warahan (folklore), and others. There is also
a discussion and study of Lampung literature,
expressed by Ariyani & Liana [9]. They confirmed
that Lampung literature has meaning and benefits in
human life because Lampung literary works can grow
and provide readers with an awareness of the truth of
life, even in fiction.
Lampung is very rich in various cultures and
traditions. However, Lampung oral literature tends to
be less popular since the people, particularly younger
generation does not give much appreciation. In
addition, the development of science and technology
also influenced the development of Lampung oral
literature. However, we also need to realize that
language and culture are dynamic. Many factors
underlie the decrease of oral tradition practices in the
province of Lampung. For example, Begawi tradition
is only carried out in a wedding ceremony, so it is
rarely practiced other than in the marriage events [10].
The word pepadun has the same meaning as the
chair of punyimbang, a place on which a person sits in
a traditional kingdom and takes the counterweight title
from generation to generation. The function
of pepadun cannot be occupied by another
person. Pepadun is the main attribute of punyimbang
mergo or clans, punyimbang tiuh, and punyimbang
tribes [10].
It is necessary to identify efforts, especially in the
oral literature of syaer (poems), that exist in the
Pepadun community. The results of the temporary
identification of Lampung's oral tradition have shifted
to other languages. It is no longer using the original
regional language. This problem needs to be
formulated as a problem in Lampung's oral literature
research; how is the today condition of the oral
tradition of the Lampung pepadun traditional poetry.
This study aims to understand the complete picture
in terms of meaning, what is contained in the poem.
This research is expected to provide benefits for the
scientific development of oral literature. This research
will also be one part of academic activities, especially
in developing research on local wisdom by placing
regional oral traditions as the discussion focus. The
results of this study are expected to be one of the
essential references in understanding oral literature
that is developing in the region because previous
research has not discussed Lampung poetry,
particularly in Pepadun.
2. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
Studying culture and language is impossible
without excavating in specific scientific fields (culture
and language) to bring up a research result. To get the
findings from the research, there must be a
perspective, theory, and practice of assessment. For
example, how someone understands and knows the
traditions that have been rooted in society. Of course,
the tool for expressing one of these cultures uses a
theory related to the scientific theory of linguistic
anthropology. The scientific theory of linguistic
Anthropology is a branch of Anthropology that studies
the languages used in various cultures [11]. Likewise,
according to Foley in Kartubi [12], linguistic
Anthropology is a subfield of Linguistics that focuses
on the part of the language in a broader social and
cultural context. Therefore, linguistic Anthropology
seeks to find the "meaning" behind the use of language
and culture.
Language is one of the main contents of culture
used to express what is learned and thought by verbal
humans. Culture is part of the language spirit. There is
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Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 644
a universal element that cannot be separated language
and
culture.
For
anthropological
scientist
Koentjaraningrat [13] thinking, "culture" is the totality
of the ideas system, actions, and human creations in
public life that is made into human beings by learning.
It means that almost all human actions are "culture"
because only a few human activities in public life do
not need to be accustomed to learning. This research
places culture, oral tradition, and oral literature as
three things that cannot be separated. Culture is
understood as a collectivity that contains values,
practiced and accepted as a building of similarity that
runs dynamically in the life of a community.
Concretely, culture can refer to customs, forms of oral
tradition, works of art, language, interaction patterns,
etc.
Thus, culture is an environmental reality, not only
having specific characteristics but also having general
characteristics.
Furthermore,
Koentjaraningrat
explained that culture has three forms: a complex of
ideas, ideals, values, norms, rules, and so on. Second,
a complex of patterned activities and actions of
humans in society, and third, as objects made by
humans [13]
3. RESEARCH METHOD
This research reveals the oral tradition, one of the
cultures of the indigenous people of Pepadun, through
language studies, which refers to the study of
descriptive qualitative methods with a linguistic
anthropological approach. The scientific approach of
linguistic anthropology is prioritizing how to see
conditions to capture reality or phenomena before
analyzing work is carried out, which is identical to
perspectives, conceptual frameworks, frameworks of
thought, intellectual strategies, paradigms, and
interpretation techniques [14].
There are three essential roles of descriptive
methods in a research: 1) to avoid speculative
problem-solving and thinking; (2) to avoid the trialerror solving or working methods; and (3) to improve
the nature of objectivity in exploring the truth of
knowledge. The descriptive method can be interpreted
as a problem-solving procedure investigated by
describing the state of research subject or object. With
the descriptive method, a researcher must reveal
observable facts or data by providing a description
[14].
In general, the design of oral literature research
uses a qualitative research design. Qualitative research
intends to understand the phenomena experienced by
research subjects, such as behavior, perceptions,
motivations, actions and others holistically, and by
way of description in the form of words, such as data
in documents, actions, words in the form of
information from informants and respondents [15].
Likewise, Sibarani asserts that qualitative research is
descriptive research, researchers are interested in
processes, meanings, and understandings obtained
through words or pictures [16].
Qualitative research uses three methods of data
collection, namely in-depth and open interviews,
direct participatory observation, and written
documents. In-depth and open-ended interviews were
conducted to obtain data from informants who study
the relationship between language and people and their
culture. Direct and participatory observations are
carried out by observing the use of language in human
culture directly. The written document method is
specifically used to find data relating to the scope of
linguistic anthropology or anthropological linguistics.
The analytical method used is an interactive model of
qualitative analysis procedures. After collecting data,
there are three activities in qualitative analysis, namely
data condensation, data presentation, and conclusion
drawing/verification [17]
4. DISCUSSIONS
The wedding ceremony is a procession for humans
to carry out the legitimacy and follow religious and
state laws. The series of wedding events must carry out
the culture and traditions according to the region of the
country and ethnicity that have various kinds of
cultures. In Lampung, for example, there is a tradition
called syaer (syair). The oral tradition, called poetry,
belongs to the Lampung pepadun custom, which is
carried out at weddings, whether a traditional event or
a national wedding party. In general, the meaning
of syaer is an old poetry where each stanza consists of
four lines (lines) ending with the same sound [11].
In Lampung tribe poetry, each stanza consists of
two, three, four, five, and six lines with the same final
vowel-consonant at the end of the letter. Therefore, the
sounds are pretty poetic and charming. However, the
majority of each Lampung verse consists of four
stanzas. The following is only some stanzas of a
Lampung poem read in a wedding.
Ikam segajou temegei di depan
Ayen wat sai ngesong agou ku sayan
Balak ateiku mak kebayangan
Appu kuw Rahmad Gustian kak ngemek pasangan
Lamen niat kemaman keminan
Tengguw pai ram dapok lem kemampuan
Opounou ram sekedar merencanakan
Tuhan jua sai menentukan
…
Para undangan nayah kak bettoh
Sekianlah tegoh jou gawoh
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The English translation is:
I intentionally come forward
It’s not ordered but my own will
My happiness is indescribable
My grandson, Rahmad Gustian has found his other
half
If uncle and aunt have good intention
Just wait, we will have ability
We can only plan
God the One deciding
…
All invitees are starving
My poem, it ends here
Some of oral traditions Lampung have, one of
which is poetry. It has a deep value and sense in terms
of meaning. Likewise, the content of philosophy in the
poem, the message in the poem is to give love, care,
and learning in life and the hereafter. By
understanding the contents, we will treasure the life. It
shows examples and experiences of nobility in the
past.
Like the example of the poem above, the first
stanza is the speaker starts reciting the poem by asking
permission. It expresses the gratitude to all guests and
family. The second and later parts of poem provide
advice and messages. Since it is expressed in a
wedding ceremony, the poem consists of messages for
family and the in-law family. It also contains prays for
the married couple and family. In the final stanzas, the
reciter does not forget to close the poem by
apologizing and bidding farewell.
The use of language in this poem is to use a parable
language style that focuses on de-personification style.
There are sentences using presuppositions explicitly in
the words kalau, jika jikalau, bila(mana), sekiranya,
misalkan, umpama, andai(kata) seandainya andaikan
[18].
Many values can be learned from the poetry. It
teaches to live the life, and face the problem. The
function of this Lampung verse is, absolutely, to
strengthen human identity to lead a new family, to be
careful and patient in going through the life, and not to
decide everything in a hurry. The essence of human
life is to stay away from all prohibitions regulated by
religion and state. Hopefully, this oral tradition can be
maintained because it is an intangible asset owned by
the community that is full of good values.
The researchers present another example of
Lampung pepadun poem (only some of 16 parts are
written here). However, the poem below shows that
there is a change in the writing because it is not purely
in Lampung language. Indonesian language is used
before the reciter shifts it to the local language.
Takbir Allah azan wajalla
Nakanda Hendra dengan SP betuah nasibnya
Mempersunting seorang wanita pilihannya
Nakanda Ulfa Nadia, S.Pd itulah namanya
Wanita intelek cerdas masa kininya
Mendapatkan jodoh memang tanda tangannya
Sama-sama keturunan bangsa ternama
Putri ke-8 dari Bapak Iszuar dan ibu Naimah yang
jelita
Hari ini hari kewaktunya
Silaturahmi berbaur rasa
…
Kakak adik lebuw kelamou anak bai menunglung
Dari Pagardewa, Waikanan,
Kotabumi, Menggala, dan yang di Bandar Lampung
Tulus iklas semua mendukung
…
Gawi terbukti memang termasur
Keluarga besar datuk Raden Syafei keluarga besar
Haji Muhammad Syafei berbudi luhur
Berjiwa besar damai dan akur
Allhamdulilah terima syukur
Ayah Drs Haji Majekker HN
Wak Usup, Zakaria Raup
…
Beliau berdoa
Ya Allah Dia menghafalkannya
Rukunlah damai kalian bedua
Semoga menjadi keluarga
Yang
Sakinah
Mawadah
Warohmah
Sampai disini syair alkisah
At the beginning of the poem, as usual, the
characteristics of Lampung poetry is to greet and ask
for permission to deliver poetry in front of the crowd
or on stage. Such words usually present in the first and
second stanzas. The stanzas after greeting express that
the groom has met the woman of his choice, while also
stating that they both are from family with very good
background.
The words used in this poem are comparative
styles that focus on metaphorical language. Tarigan
[18] suggested that metaphor is a type of comparative
language that is the shortest, densest, and neatly
arranged.
In the sixth and later stanzas, there is a codemixing and switch from Indonesian to Lampung
regional language, such as the words lebuw, kelamou,
anak bai, menulung. The meaning of these words is the
groom's greeting to his close relatives. The
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Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 644
word lebuw is a greeting from the groom to the family
of his father. Meanwhile, kelamou means the groom's
greeting to his mother's family. The word anak
bai refers to the nephew of the groom's father and
menulung is a greeting from the groom's father and his
sister's family.
thankfulness to the anonymous reviewers for their
insight and suggestion for the improvement of this
paper.
The following stanzas express the groom asking
the blessing for the event to run smoothly. It contains
a pray that the married couple will get bless in the
world and hereafter; blessing to build a new family and
continuing the family line. It is shown in the use of
Arabic terms sakinah mawaddah wa rahmah. There is
also stanza containing the strong support of the big
family. In the end, the poet said goodbye by quoting
the old phrases in Lampung “Jangan dibincang
berbadan salah sama-sama mengingat firman Allah
wahai kasihmu kita berpisah” which means that all
humans make mistake so there is no need to gossip
behind one’s back.
[1] S. Endraswara, Antropologi Sastra Lisan (First
edition). Pusaka Obor Indonesia, 2008.
https://doi.org/1555.36.109.2018
How memorable the poem is, with many words
expressing the happiness and character values. It does
not hurt, yet, becomes the exemplary for people since
it consists of the ancestors’ advice. It teaches us to
avoid anything that harms ourselves; to obey God’s
commands; and to stay away from all His prohibitions.
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5. CONCLUSION
In the traditional system of Lampung culture, what
the ancestors left behind is still considered applicable
in today life. It has been proven that Lampung poetry
has an excellent mandate to forge the next generation
of the family, nation, and religion. It was giving
instructions or advice by reminding each other,
reflecting on the bad experiences, not letting the
generation fall into negative things, and constantly
developing positive values.
This oral tradition of poetry puts forward the value
of honesty, patience in facing all trials, not easily
provoked by irresponsible people, politeness,
respecting each other, tolerance, piety to the Almighty.
Apart from the excellent meaning and philosophy
contained in the poem, some problems are pointed out
related to the existence of Lampung Pepadun
traditional poetry. The problem is that the majority of
oral poetry tradition is already old. Only few love or
care about this tradition since young people do not
appreciate their own culture. Based on this fact, there
is a need for conservation and the propagation of the
oral tradition of Lampung Pepadun poetry so that this
tradition will not extinct.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to express their gratitude to
all informants involved in this study: and say their
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