Discourse of Ethnic Identity Minangkabau Society in Bali

This dissertation is entitled “Discourse of Ethnic Identity of Minangkabau Community in Bali”. “The discourse of ethnic identity” is relevant to multiculturalism, which is important in the constellation of Indonesia, as a country that has been built on the reality of diversity. Actually, the essence of diversity serves as the wealth, but the state management so far has deemed it a threat. The multiculturalism approach has provided us with the principles of the empowerment of differences as wealth and of the act of strengthening identity that is rootedin ethnic primordial values as the distinguisher. Three questions should be answered in this study. They are (1) how the discourse of ethnic identity of Minangkabau society in Bali is represented; (2) how the discourse is functioned in the discourse and social practices of the subjects; (3) what ideological meaning is reflected by the discourse. The paradigm employed for answering those questions are Cultural Studies and the approaches applied are qualitative, critical, holistic and emancipatoric. The theories referred to are the theory of discourse (Fairclough), the theory of semiotics (Rolland Barthes), and theory of multiculturalism (Brian Fay). The data needed were qualitatively made available and the techniques employed were direct observation, document analysis, and deep interview. The data were analyzed descriptively,interpretivelyandexplanatively. It has been concluded that (1) the discourse of ethnic identity of Minangkabau community in Bali is represented in the verbal and non-verbal texts produced by the subjects and signified by the myth of “ideality” (multicultural, primordial, and ambivalent) and the myth of “secularity”. (2) The functionalization of the discourse of ethnic identity in the discourse and social practices strengthens such myths as the ideologies of the subjects. (3) The ideologies actualized in the discourse are those “which strengthen the identity of primordialism”, and those which are “transformative harmonious ambivalent.” The findings in this study are (1) the discourse of ethnic identity of Minangkabau community in Bali issignified inthemyths of“idealism”(multiculturalism,ambivalence, and primordialism) and “secularity”. (2) The functionalization of discourse in the discourse and social practices of the subjects strengthens the myths of “idealism” and at the same time rejects the myths of “secularity”. (3) The discourse of ethnic identity of Minangkabau community in Bali reflects the subjects ’ideology. It is recommended that the studies, revitalization, and empowerment of ethnic identity be intensified for the enrichment and meaningfulness of multiculturalism as the foundation of the state and nation.