Deconstructing Ethical Values and Social Meanings in Traditional Cupak Gerantang Theater: Implications for Cultural Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51278/bse.v6i2.1195Keywords:
Cupak Gerantang, Deconstruction, Ethical Values, Social Meaning, Cultural EducationAbstract
This study examines how ethical values and social meanings are constructed in the traditional Cupak Gerantang theater of Sasak culture and how the conventional opposition between Cupak as bad and Gerantang as good can be critically reinterpreted. A qualitative descriptive-interpretive approach within a critical paradigm was employed. The study was conducted at Taman Budaya Nusa Tenggara Barat, Mataram, during May-July 2026. Data were obtained through observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews with two purposively selected cultural informants, and documentation consisting of performance materials, photographs, and dialogue-related records. Data credibility was strengthened through source and technique triangulation. Analysis combined Spradley-oriented cultural analysis with close reading and close viewing informed by Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction and Stuart Hall’s representation theory. The findings show that the performance constructs honesty, responsibility, justice, social concern, solidarity, cooperation, respect, patience, and wisdom through character behavior, conflict, relationships, and narrative consequences. The deconstructive reading further demonstrates that Cupak and Gerantang acquire meaning relationally: Cupak is not exhausted by the category of evil but also signifies ambition, jealousy, self-interest, insecurity, and the desire for recognition, while Gerantang represents ethical ideals that require patience, sacrifice, responsibility, and perseverance. The study argues that this reinterpretation does not erase the traditional moral lesson; rather, it expands the performance into a culturally grounded resource for ethical reasoning, cultural literacy, and critical learning. The educational implications are conceptual and contextual, not claims of experimentally tested learning effects
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