| Abstrakt: |
This article discusses the discourse of Lombok tourism in Paox Iben's novel Medulla Sinculasis. This article implements Stuart Hall's representation theory, which combines semiotic theory with discourse theory. Therefore, for the methodological implication, this article employs semiotic and discursive methods. The novel "Medulla Sinculasis" was used as semiotic data; meanwhile, Lombok's discourse was considered the discursive data. The semiotic data were used to elucidate Lombok's meaning; meanwhile, the discursive method was used to discover the source of meaning. The findings showed that Lombok in the novel "Medulla Sinculasis" was interpreted as a tourist object. Lombok is constructed as a tourist object. In Lombok, discourse on tourism was initiated by Tuan Guru Bajang, a religious scholar, after he was elected the governor of West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, in 2008. Within this context, the novel Medulla Sinculasis is discussed. Lombok as the tourist object is described by Netherlanders, Europe. In this story, Nuruda is driven to visit Lombok after seeing a painting titled Medulla Sinculasis being auctioned at the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands. After returning to Indonesia from Europe, Nuruda decides to travel directly to Lombok and meet Husin Nanang, the painter. His meeting with Husin Nanang and the situation in Ampenan City leads Nuruda on a transformation from tourist to social activist, fighting to protect the rights and promote the interests of marginal groups. Nuruda's struggle is ultimately unsuccessful, and he is killed in a hit-and-run. The Lombok in this novel is part of the discourse from the 2000s and 2010s, a period that was dominated by the economization of Lombok. The novel Medulla Sinculasis may be seen as part of this dominant discourse, thus having the economization of Lombok as part of its agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
