From Customary Spaces to Digital Screens: Representing Gendang Nafiri as Malay Cultural Heritage

Dilmai Putra; Shinta Yanuar Savitri

doi:10.37676/sosj.v3i2.1860

Authors

Dilmai Putra Universitas Dehasen Bengkulu
Shinta Yanuar Savitri Universitas Dehasen Bengkulu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37676/sosj.v3i2.1860

Keywords:

Documentary Film, Cultural Representation, Gendang Nafiri, Malay Cultural Heritage, Stuart Hall

Abstract

This study examines how the documentary film Gendang Nafiri: Menyuarakan Kembali Warisan yang Terlupakan constructs Gendang Nafiri as Malay cultural heritage. Using a qualitative approach and Stuart Hall’s theory of representation, the study treats scenes, dialogue, voice-over narration, visual composition, music, sound, cultural symbols, and generational relations as representational language. The primary data source is the documentary film published by BRIN Audiovisual in 2026, while scholarly literature on documentary film, cultural representation, and the Nafiri tradition serves as secondary data. The analysis focuses on six representational themes: Gendang Nafiri as cultural heritage, the threat of cultural loss, the authority of cultural actors, generational transmission, negotiation with modernity, and the movement of tradition from customary spaces to digital media. The study argues that the documentary does not merely record a traditional musical practice; it constructs Gendang Nafiri as a cultural sign associated with Malay identity, collective memory, and the urgency of preservation.

References

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