The Big Stage of Oase Theater is the first performance in the Arabic language in Solo that performs Middle East literary works. This performance is held annually, with the last performance in 2020 being held online because of the Covid-19 pandemic with the title Majnun Laila. This year, the theater performs a different theme on ‘HWJN, Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta’ (when the impossible struck with ego and love), a horror romance story. Noval, HWJN assistant director, stated that this drama tells the meeting and first introduction between human and jinn.

“The jinn named Hawjan lives in an old house. One day, there was a human family who lived in the house. Shortly, Hawjan’s mother does not like a human, but Hawjan likes one of the house residents, Sawsan,” Noval explained.

Almost similar to the OUIJA film from Stiles White and Mike Flanagan, Hawjan and Sawsan, who live in two different worlds, communicate and interact using the Ouija board. Sawsan needs to arrange the letters on the board to communicate with Hawjan, making them closer and interested in one another. To uns.ac.id team, Noval stated that the HWJN story was inspired from Saudi Arabia literature from Ibraheem Abbas with the same title. His team added ‘Kala Lengkara Dihempas Ego dan Cinta’ in their performance title.

“Lengkara is an impossibility, but on another side, the impossibility of the boundary between jinn and human to have a connection and love each other can be eliminated by the ego of the jinn because it needs to do something outside the law and love it has,” Noval explained on Tuesday (16/11/2021).

The idea to perform an Arabic novel appeared at the beginning of 2021 when the Oase Theater script team conducted research on Arabic manuscripts to be performed. The team agreed to perform the Ibraheem Abbas’ novel, although the script preparation process was unique and took a long time. Noval explained that the script preparation started in early 2021 by the team who translated the novel into the Indonesian language. “From the Indonesian, we prepared the drama script, and then the script was translated back to Arabic,” Noval explained.

After completing the script preparation, Noval and the team opened the registration and casting process to find appropriate casts. The team worked hard in two months to train, usually four times a week around Building 1 FIB UNS from afternoon to evening. In several opportunities, the team also train the Agro Budaya UNS. Despite the current pandemic, Noval admitted that his team did not find significant challenges during the rehearsal, but they paid attention to each cast’s health and provided a permit to the cast to take a break when they are not fit.

Getting near to the scheduled performance, Noval stated that viewers’ enthusiasm was really high that their pre-sale tickets were all sold. However, Noval and Oase Theater ensure that there are on-site tickets that could be purchased on the performance night.

“Although the performance is in Arabic, through the acts and feelings delivered by the actors, inshallah, viewers could understand. HWJN is interesting because it shared the story between jinn and humans that is rarely raised (in literature works). The performance also has moral messages that could be learned, such as not all what we want will be achieved,” Noval concluded. Humas UNS

Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

The post Oase Theater Big Stage Again Held Offline appeared first on Universitas Sebelas Maret.

The phenomenon of Arabic Language use in Indonesia was discussed in detail by Reza Sukma Nugraha, S.Hum., M.Hum, a faculty member of Arabic Language and Literature Program Faculty of Cultural Studies (FIB) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta on Saturday (31/07/2021) in Student Studies (KRAMA) X BASMA. The event was held online through the Google Meet application and attended by UNS and other university students.

The Arabic language is used both verbally and in written form in Indonesia. Melayu people use the Arabic alphabet or Jawi to write their Malay language, which is used primarily in Riau Archipelago, Bangka Belitung, and Bengkulu. This language developed prominently since the Islamic Kingdom started to move the authority of Hindu and Buddha kingdoms in Indonesia. Ulema or Islamic scholars played a vital role in Arabic language development in Indonesia.

“They started to socialize how the Arabic language is closely related to Islam. For example, in using the terms and Arabic names during their da’wah,” Reza explained.

Reza Sukma also stated that the Arabic language influence on the Indonesian language is getting more significant after the reformation. This influence can be observed from the number of words absorbed into Indonesian diction in the Arabic language. Around 2,000 words from 127,000 dictions in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) are words absorbed from the Arabic language: masjid, mushola, dewan, and rakyat.

The numbers of absorbed words also affect phonematic adjustment in the Indonesian language. To this day, the Arabic language is used as a language system, the use of expressions in the form of phrases and sentences, the use of Arabic terms, and the naming of people in Indonesia. Arabic expression in Indonesia is also used as a means of communication, religious teaching, and social or political identity. Humas UNS

Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti

The post UNS Arabic Literature Faculty Member Discussed Arabic Language Phenomenon in Indonesia appeared first on Universitas Sebelas Maret.