Between Love and Culture: Semiotics

Analysis on Sanur Tetap Ramai Short Story

Sundari Okasunu_Wacana Sastra

Faisal Baraas_Balai Pustaka

Sanur Tetap
Ramai
General Reference:
Theme Love (mainly) > differences (backgroung) > diversity in Bali
Setting Place : Sanur, Bali > beach and Bali beach hotel
Time: past and present
Characters Main: Wayan Sumerta, Joice ǀ support: ‘white’ girl, Karla
Plot Untied love > promise
 Codes found in the Story

Dialogue
Physical (words/phrases/
sentences)
 Code and its referent
Tourism > the development
Bali Beach Hotel of Balinese tourist site

‘Gadis Barat / The Western people >

Physical Gadis kulit putih tourist > people in different
Naming race.

Current situation of
Kursi ini Pariwisata Bali > mood of
the characters
Hotel Bali Beach: Code for Tourism

First publication: 1983 > at that time this hotel remain the most luxurious,
Activity

one and only with 10 floors (established before SK. Gub. Kdh. TK. I
Bali. 22/Niov/1971 No 13/Perbang.1641/ii/a/1971 about height of
building in Bali).
Therefore, this hotel represent the tourism activity in Bali along with its
development as a tourism island, island from heaven.

Symbol > new era of tourism

Index > upper class people stay > class difference
Joice stays upstair in the seventh floor while Sumerta can
only sit outside (below)
 Wayan ‘gadis kulit
Sumerta
putih’ and
(Balinese) and
Joice
‘lelaki berkulit
(American) kecoklatan’

Culture
Orientation >
modern and
The West and the traditional
East Development >
dynamic and
static
 Dialogue
Sumerta
“ya tidak mudah kita kawin”
“kursi ini masih yang dulu. Catnya berubah
The first ujaran by Sumerta implied the complicated
situation “west” and “east” people have to faced
when they are married. But in terms of culture
actually the word ‘kawin’ itself has different
meaning.
1. by Joice,, she inferred ‘kawin’ as legally married
2. by Sumerta, considering his conservative
background, ‘kawin’ means a loving relationship,
the legal married implied by Joice is ‘nikah’.
However, he stated ‘tidak mudah’ too could be
inferred as the story shows at first Joice is lesbian
and Sumerta is the doctor. Tidak mudah to heal
Joice in the process
The second stated the mood of the characters. Kursi has
not only mean a ‘chair’ but the object to remain the
past and present time of the characters love story.
Adjust ‘Kursi’ by Semiotics features

Symbol •Status and Position

•Relax (in Tourism)

Index •Indication of relax

Icon •From the features/shape/kind of the

chair
Signi Signified-Signifier
Signifi Concept
ed Orient
fier (petan ation,
(pen da) Cultur
anda “Differ e,
) ent, Ideol
“Wes disres ogy &
pancy, Perce
t& distinc ption
East” tion’
Life Style > modernity and conservative (Joice = lesbian)

Culture > Liberalism and maintained cultural value and social sight > ethnicity in between West and East

Perception > career, relationship

 Note;
1. We may try to analyze the semiotics by inter-textuality
2. It is also good to see the background of the writer to finds out the sociological or personal
experiments they put in the story as a code
3. Some events occur in a story can also be a phenomenon in the society and by the story the
writer try to criticize it either by direct narrative or event indirectly by using certain code
 Thank you!
Contact me: ayusundariokasunu@gmail.com