Siti Nurbaya

dalam Perspektif Dekonstruksi Paul de Man

Rina Ratih Sri Sudaryani

Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia

Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan

Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Yogyakarta

Abstract

This article is revealing another side of Marah Rusli ’s novel entitled Siti Nurbaya (SN) by exploiting Paul de Man deconstruction perspective. The study indicates that SN is one of the Indonesian novels dominated by trope. Siti Nurbaya is a metaphor for the oppressed; Samsulbahri is a symbol of the educated group who is the victim of colonialism and who decides to be at the colonial side; Baginda Sulaiman is the victim of deceit; and Datuk Maringgih is the representation of the uneducated people whose ability to conduct deception finally give them chance to defeat their opponant. SN can be interpreted as an irony because it tells contradiction. This is symbolized by Siti Nurbaya’s grief. Her struggle to escape from Datuk Maringgih is the story of her own victory. Samsulbahri’s grief and his success to become a soldier using a new name, Letnan Mas, is also another victory. On the contrary, Datuk Maringgih’s glory actually signifies his failure to conquer his lady’s heart. Meaning construction in SN can be returned to it’s initial state of language meaning which is labelled as vacant meaning, which at the next step, this vacant meaning obtains its meaning by correlating with the events interrelated in the work.