The student of Master in Literature Undip has successfully completed a hermeneutic thesis research using the text object of the Babad Diponegoro which has been recognized by UNESCO as a Memory of the World (MoW).
The research was successfully carried out by a student named Arista Nur Rizki. The results of the thesis research are entitled “The Hermeneutic Circle of the Text of Babad Diponegoro in The Garden of Earthly Prosperity in Ground Zero Painting by Isur Suroso (An Approach to Paul Ricouer’s Hermeneutics)”.
The student who is familiarly called Arista admitted that this thesis research requires a long process.
The obstacle Arista faced was when field research had to be carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic. He admitted that his research could be completed with the support of the PATRA PADI family (Paguyuban Trah Pangeran Diponegoro) from the start.
Arista explained that the object of study using the Babad Diponegoro has its own urgency for Undip students, especially the literature and history majors.
“The object of Babad Diponegoro must be of special concern, because Prince Diponegoro, who became the name of the Undip campus, left a treasure in the form of Babad Diponegoro,” Arista explained when contacted by the Undip Public Relations Team.
“Of course we cannot exclude Babad Diponegoro as a literary text from the focus of research, because it is proven that UNESCO has recognized it as a memory of the world, especially since we use the name Diponegoro as an alma mater,” Arista explained.
This seems to be the reason why Arista, who was recorded as having an internship for one month at the Department of Public Relations Undip, chose the Manado version of the Babad Diponegoro as the object of his thesis research.
The Manado version of Babad Diponegoro was written by Prince Diponegoro himself when he was exiled by the Dutch in South Sulawesi in 1831-1832.
The part of the text of the Babad Diponegoro that is the focus of Arista’s attention is the 52nd gatra in the 14th pupuh. This section tells the story of the young Prince Diponegoro when he was guided directly by his great-grandmother, GKR Ageng Tegalreja who was the consort of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I.
This part of the pupuh also describes the atmosphere of the people of Tegalrejo in Prince Diponegoro’s youth. Currently, the Tegalrejo residence where Prince Diponegoro lives with his great-grandmother is often called the Yogyakarta Sasana Wiratama Museum.
According to Arista, this part of the pupuh often escapes the attention of Prince Diponegoro’s history. In fact, the story is proof of the importance of the process of forming the character of Prince Diponegoro, especially when he was educated as a santri.
“I am interested in doing research on this story because it tells the story long before the Diponegoro War. Many still think that Prince Diponegoro’s important story for Indonesia was during the Java War (1825-1830). However the story of Prince Diponegoro while studying is no less important,” he explained.
In the process of his analysis, Arista also uses a painting entitled “The Garden of Earthly Prosperity in Ground Zero” by Isur Suroso.
Arista used this painting to enrich the interpretation process of the Babad Diponegoro text.
“Since the theory I use is hermeneutics, it is about interpretation. So I also involve a painting that matches the sound of the story in the text section as a comparison as well as to enrich the meaning content that can be extracted from the song,” added Arista.
The painting by Isur Suroso was once displayed at the Jogja Gallery in February 2019. At that time, there was a Fine Literature Exhibition held by PATRA PADI.
As a result, Arista succeeded in dissecting the interpretation process in the song and found important facts such as the figure of the GKR Ageng Tegalreja, the circle of Tegalrejo scholars during Prince Diponegoro’s youth, to the concept of tarekat experienced by Prince Diponegoro as a santri as well as wong tani (farmer) in Tegalrejo.
The thesis research conducted by Arista was guided by Prof. Mudjahirin Thohir, M.A. The thesis trial process was held on Friday, August 26, 2022, guided by Dr. M. Suryadi, M. Hum., Dr. Redyanto Noor, M. Hum. and Dr. M. Abdullah, M.A. While studying as a student of the Master in Literature Undip, Arista also managed to score a perfect GPA of 4.00.
Thanks to his achievements, Arista will be appointed as one of the resource persons in the 2022 Academic Student Networking event which is the annual agenda of the UGM Master in Literature Study Program with the theme Literature, Revitalization and Transformation of Regional Literature on October 14, 2022.
