Meaning Construction in Malay Customary Title Conferral: an Ethnography of Communication At the Riau Malay Customary Institution

Abstract

Penabalan gelar adat Melayu bukan sekadar seremoni pemberian penghargaan atau status sosial, melainkan peristiwa komunikasi yang berakar pada budaya, tempat makna, legitimasi sosial, dan identitas budaya dikonstruksikan. Penelitian ini menganalisis bagaimana makna dikonstruksikan melalui tuturan ritual dalam penabalan gelar adat Melayu di Lembaga Adat Melayu Riau (LAM Riau), dengan memfokuskan pada bentuk dan struktur tuturan, peristiwa komunikasi, proses interaksi, dan nilai budaya yang terkandung di dalamnya. Penelitian menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan etnografi komunikasi. Data diperoleh melalui observasi, wawancara mendalam, dan dokumentasi, kemudian dianalisis melalui perspektif etnografi komunikasi, konstruksi sosial, tindak tutur, komunikasi budaya, dan komunikasi ritual. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penabalan mengikuti struktur komunikasi yang sistematis meliputi pembukaan, doa, pembacaan ayat suci Al-Qur'an, pantun, pidato adat, pembacaan warkah, pengukuhan gelar, penyampaian amanah, dan penutupan. Tuturan ritual tersebut mengonstruksikan makna simbolik, filosofis, sosial, moral, dan spiritual sekaligus menjalankan fungsi informatif, performatif, edukatif, legitimatif, dan ritual. Makna dikonstruksikan melalui interaksi antara pemangku adat, penerima gelar, LAM Riau, dan masyarakat yang memperkuat nilai amanah, marwah, kesantunan, kepemimpinan, tanggung jawab, musyawarah, kebersamaan, dan religiusitas. Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa komunikasi ritual tidak hanya berfungsi sebagai transmisi budaya, tetapi juga sebagai mekanisme legitimasi sosial dan komitmen moral yang menghubungkan status individual dengan tanggung jawab kolektif serta mempertahankan identitas budaya Melayu.

Kata Kunci: Konstruksi Makna; Penabalan Gelar Adat Melayu; Etnografi Komunikasi; Komunikasi Ritual; Legitimasi Sosial

Malay customary title conferral is not merely a ceremonial recognition of social status but a culturally embedded communicative event through which meaning, social legitimacy, and cultural identity are constructed. This study examines how meaning is constructed through ritual utterances in Malay customary title conferral at the Riau Malay Customary Institution (LAM Riau), focusing on speech forms and structures, communicative events, interactional processes, and embedded cultural values. Using a qualitative ethnography of communication approach, data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation and analyzed through the perspectives of ethnography of communication, social construction, speech acts, cultural communication, and ritual communication. The findings reveal that title conferral follows a systematic communicative structure involving opening remarks, prayers, Qur’anic recitation, pantun, customary speeches, warkah reading, title conferral, customary messages, and closing. These ritual utterances construct symbolic, philosophical, social, moral, and spiritual meanings while performing informative, performative, educational, legitimizing, and ritual functions. Meaning is constructed through interactions among customary authorities, title recipients, LAM Riau, and the community, through which amanah, marwah, politeness, leadership, responsibility, deliberation, solidarity, and religiosity are reinforced. The study demonstrates that ritual communication operates not only as cultural transmission but also as a mechanism of social legitimacy and moral commitment that links individual status to collective responsibility and sustains Malay cultural identity.

Keywords: Meaning Construction; Malay Customary Title Conferral; Ethnography of Communication; Ritual Communication; Social Legitimacy