Definition of Puppet: History, Function, Type and Content of the Story

Definition of Wayang: History, Function, Types and Content of the Story – What do you know about wayang? On this occasion About the knowledge.co.id will discuss it and of course about other things that also cover it. Let's look at the discussion together in the article below to better understand it.

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Definition of Puppet: History, Function, Type and Content of the Story

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The word wayang actually comes from the Javanese language, which means shadow. When viewed from its philosophical meaning, wayang is a shadow or reflection of a number of human traits, such as anger, greed, stinginess, wisdom, and so on.

In general, wayang is defined as a puppet to imitate people, which is made of carved leather or wood, and is used to represent characters in a traditional drama performance. Wayang players are known as puppeteers. Usually wayang is created according to the character, nature, and behavior of a character.

For example, a character with good character is usually described as having a straight body, handsome face, and sharp eyes. This is different from evil characters. Usually, evil characters are described as having large body sizes, wide faces, large noses, red eyes and faces, and dreadlocks.

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Definition of Wayang According to Experts

While the meaning of wayang according to experts is as follows:

• According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary

Wayang is an actor or messenger who moves according to the wishes of others.

• According to R. Q Josowidagdo

Wayang is a shadow or ayang-ayang. This is because what we see during a drama performance is the image on the screen. Kelir is a white cloth that is usually stretched in wayang performances. The shadow appears because of the "sharp" light that is above the head of the puppeteer.

• According to Doctor Th. piqeud

Wayang is a puppet that is displayed in a performance, which contains various advice about the attitude that humans must have in this life. Usually, the music used in wayang performances is slendro gamelan music.

Wayang is a picture or painting of the life of the universe, depicted in wayang not only about humans, but human life in relation to other humans, nature, and Lord.

The universe is a harmonious whole, inseparable from one another and always in touch, the elements within one another the universe strives towards balance, if one is shaken then the whole nature is shaken as a whole (system alertness).

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History and heyday of Wayang art

The history of the emergence of wayang art dates back to primitive times when wayang was formed from a collection of grasses that were tied together and moved together. After that wayang developed no longer using only grass, but also using hunting leather and also bark.

This is reinforced by the discovery of very old wayang kulit, which is around the 2nd century AD. After the influence of the Hindu-Buddhist kingdom entered Indonesia, finally the wayang art grew and developed to create storylines that the audience could enjoy. Especially when the Islamic empire grew and slowly replaced the Hindu-Buddhist empire.

Several religious figures, such as Sunan Kalijaga, took part in developing the art of wayang which was used in his sermons on Islam. Sunan Kalijaga creates wayang art that is more interesting and fun to watch by adding the accompaniment of traditional musical instruments such as gamelan.

This is where many regions end up creating the latest innovations and giving birth to various types of wayang art. The art of wayang is increasingly well-known and has finally been crowned as a heritage from Indonesia in the art of speech which is priceless in the world.

Wayang kulit had experienced its heyday in the past, even during the spread of Islam on the island of Java. The trustees use stories and shadow puppet performances that have been interspersed with Islamic teachings and principles as a medium for spreading Islam.

Things like this can happen because wayang stories have narrations that visualize human life that teach us not to die on the right path. In this case, Islam also teaches the same thing, so it is easy for the saints to incorporate Islamic teachings into wayang narratives (Winoto, 2006).

This method proved to be quite successful, because at that time, shadow puppet shows were entertainment facilities For the people who can embrace the wider population, the changes in wayang kulit performances have experienced a lot of decline his interest.

This decrease in interest can be caused by the public's ignorance of the storyline and the characteristics of the various characters who act in the story of the wayang performance. Lack of knowledge about things that make most people feel lazy and lazy to see the puppet show.

Even though in fact the characteristics of each character in each wayang performance are very good to be used as a guide not dead for the community, some of the famous characters in the wayang story are the Pandavas as well Kauravas.

The Pandavas are the main characters who receive bad treatment from the evil Kauravas, but at the end of the story the Pandavas win the battle and replace the kingdom as their right.

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Puppet Art Functions

The following are the functions of wayang art including:

• As a place to preserve local culture and traditional stories.
• As a description of two different groups, namely groups with good character and groups with bad character.
• As a means to instill a social spirit, because usually wayang performances are held on a large scale and gather a large number of people.
• As a medium for the entertainment of the people.
• As a means of character education because it provides messages and mandates in the story.

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Puppet Types

There are many types of wayang in Indonesia. Moreover, wayang has many shapes, sizes, and mediums. Some are in the form of picture scrolls, leather, wood, or masks. The following are some types of wayang that are quite popular in Indonesia:

• Wayang some

Wayang beber is one of the oldest puppets in Indonesia. In this performance, puppets in the form of sheets of drawings are narrated by a puppeteer. You can find this type of wayang in its place of origin in Pacitan, Donorojo, East Java. Wayang beber often uses Mahabrata stories, Ramayana stories, or stories from folklore, such as the love story of Dewi Sekartaji.

• Shadow Puppets

Wayang kulit is one of the most popular types of puppets in Central and East Java. This puppet has a flat shape and is made of buffalo skin or goat skin. The arms and legs of this puppet can be moved.

In Bali and Java, wayang kulit performances usually combine Hindu stories with Buddhist and Islamic stories. However, wayang kulit often also tells myths or folklore from certain regions.

• Clitic puppet (karucil)

This puppet is almost the same as a shadow puppet. The difference is, this puppet is made of wood. In addition, the puppeteer also uses shadows when staging the wayang klitik. The word "klitik" comes from the sound of wood that is generated when the puppet is played.

Usually these puppets tell stories from the kingdoms of East Java, such as the Kediri Kingdom, the Majapahit Kingdom, and the Jenggala Kingdom. The story that was most popular during wayang klitik performances was the Damarwulan story. This story has a story that people really like.

• Puppet show

Wayang golek performances are performed using three-dimensional puppets made of wood. This type of wayang is most popular in West Java. Puppet show is divided into two types, namely wayang golek flat-cropped and wayang golek purwa.

Of these two types, wayang golek purwa is better known by the public. The stories raised by this type of wayang usually refer to Javanese and Islamic customs, such as the story of Prince Panji, the story of Damarwulan, and so on.

• Wayang Wong or Wayang Orang

Wayang wong is somewhat different from other types of wayang in general because it uses humans to portray characters in a story. Initially, this puppet was used to entertain the nobility. However, now, wayang wong has become a work of art that is popular among the public.

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Story Content in Wayang

Wayang is “Momot Kamot”. Wayang is a performance medium that can contain all aspects of human life (momot kamot). Human thoughts, whether related to ideology, politics, economics, social, culture, law or defense and security can be contained in wayang.

Wayang Contains Orders, Guidance, and Spectacles. Inside wayang, there is an order, namely a norm or convention that contains ethics (moral philosophy). These norms or conventions are agreed upon and used as guidelines for dalang artists.

The wayang show contains the rules of the game along with the wayang puppeteer's procedures and how to play the puppet. from generation to generation and tradition, over time it becomes something that is agreed upon as a guideline (convention).

Wayang Is Total Theatre. Wayang performances can be seen as total theatrical performances, meaning that they present aspects of art in total (drama, music, dance, literature, and fine arts). Dialogue between characters (antawecana), narrative expression (janturan, pocapan, carita), suluk, kombangan, dhodhogan, kepyakan, are important elements in drama.

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