Minangkabau Historical Traces in the Novel Negeri Perempuan by Wisran Hadi

Politics can hide part of the history of civilization, but literature is unable to silence it. Literature can be a fertile field that fosters history that is drowned out by a tyranny. The power of oral literature in local communities helped confirm the ‘diamond light’ of the history of a community’s civilization. The sensitivity of the author is needed to record and publish the history that is folded by the tyranny. The next generation of Indonesian people needs to know the folded history. The role of literature becomes important in the inheritance of knowledge about the history of Indonesia’s civilization past. One of the unpublished histories of Indonesian civilization is related to the kingdom of Pagaruyung in Minangkabau. The novel of Negeri Perempuan written by Wisran Hadi has offered a way to understand the Minangkabau history of the past on the map of civilization in the archipelago. The problem is, how do we understand literary works so that the historical fold of the Minangkabau ethnic civilization becomes reasonable and should be understood by all generations in West Sumatra, and in Indonesia in general, even in the world. Literary studies that have a perspective on perspective will be able to provide answers. This article discusses the Minangkabau historical fold in the novel of Negeri Perempuan