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A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Character Karman in Ahmad Tohari’S Kubah

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A Lacanian Psychoanalysis of the Character Karman in Ahmad Tohari’S Kubah View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by JOS - UNSOED (Jurnal Online Soedirman - Universitas Jenderal Soedirman) A LACANIAN PSYCHOANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTER KARMAN IN AHMAD TOHARI’S KUBAH Christopher Allen Woodrich International Indonesia Forum Abstrak Teori psikologi postruktural Jacques Lacan sudah memiliki pengaruh besar dalam pengertian cara pikir manusia. Hal ini nampak dalam ilmu sastra, di mana beberapa peneliti — termasuk Lacan sendiri — sudah menerapkan teori ini untuk lebih memahami karya sastra. Salah satu karya yang dapat dibedah dengan toeri ini ialah Kubah karya Ahmad Tohari, sebuah novel yang terbit padatahun 1982 dan membahas penebusan dosa seorang mantan komunis yang telah ditahan dua belas tahun. Artikel ini menggunakan teori psikoanalisis Lacan untuk menunjukkan bagaimana tokoh tersebut, Karman, merasa didorong untuk menemukan keutuhan yang telah hilang, serta bagaimana dorongan ini menyebabkan dia untuk masuk Partai Komunis lalu memeluk kembali agama Islam. Meskipun novel ini berakhir dengan harapan untuk masa depan, artikel ini akan membuktikan bahwa Karma belumtemukankeutuhan yang dicarinya. Kata kunci: Psikoanalisis Lacan, Kubah, Ahmad Tohari Abstract JacquesLacan’s poststructuralist theories of psychology have greatly affected modern understandings of the human psyche. This is evident in literary studies, where numerous thinkers – including Lacan himself – have applied these theories to better understand works of literature. One work which benefits from such an application is Ahmad Tohari’s Kubah, a 1982 novel on the ex-communist Karman’s seeming redemption after spending twelve years as a political prisoner. This paper will use a Lacanian psychoanalysis to show how Karman’s need to find wholeness, one which has been lost since before his birth, led to his various activities, including the joining of the Communist Party and his return to Islam. Although the novel ends on a hopeful note, it will be shown that Karman has not truly found the wholeness for which he has searched. Keywords: Lacanian psychoanalysis, Kubah, Ahmad Tohari Background particularly theories of psychology. As Any well-developed literary character evidence, in this article we discuss Kubah, will, like a real life person, undergo a a novel by Ahmad Tohari which was series of trials and tribulations which published in 1980. leads him or her to change: to adapt to The book Kubahis the story of new circumstances, to overcome personal Karman‘s fall and retribution, shortcomings, or to grow in maturity emphasizing his search for fullness. owing to unforeseen challenges. A Karman first attempts to find serious character may learn how to laugh, completeness through religion, family, while a bully may learn the consequences and romantic love, before turning to the of violence. Even those characters who do semblance of completeness presented by not appear to change may have, in fact, the Indonesian Communist Party and its attained a broader understanding of why ideology. However, his religious wife their own character traits are important, destabilises this self-identity and, when and thus achieved a greater understanding the Party is annihilated, Karman‘s of their own position within society and communist identity is destroyed with it. the community. These changes often are a By the end of the novel Karman has driving force behind a story-line, and seemingly found completeness, once when they are not, they serve to shape the again, in religion. This study will explain, plot as it unfolds. as comprehensively as the imperfect Character development, if handled by means allow, Karman‘s developmentand a skilled author, will be presented show how his renewed ―wholeness‖ is organically, as occurring naturally, with a just as fleeting as it was when he was logical basis which can be tracked.As younger. For this we turn to such, the psychological development of a psychological theory. character—and, thus, the reason why a story develops in a certain manner—can Literature Review be tracked as a logical progression and Various theories of psychology have can conform to established models, long been applied to literature. Wellekand Warren (1949: 75) found four major types of,wholeness during the mirror stage, of psychological approaches: the when they recognise their individual psychology of the writer (the oldest, bodies and begin creating a self- having been recognised since the Classic imagewhich they perceive as lacking. Age), of the creative process, of one or They attempt to formulise said image more characters within a work, and the after learning language, but soon audience. Later writers have provided recognise that language is incapable of subdivisions of the above typology: fully expressing their libidinal SuwardiEndraswara (2008: ix–xii), for desires.Around this time the instance, divides the creative process into recogniseacontrolling force,termed the both the creativity of writers and of ―Name-of-the-Father‖, to which they readers. The psychological models used must defer;this event is termed the by such studies can be based on the work Oedipus complex. of several thinkers, most often that of As a result of the Oedipal event, Sigmund Freud. humans no longer identify themselves as Another possible psychological part of a primordial whole, but as approach to literature is that of Jacques individuals defined in terms of their Lacan, which is based on an linguistically 1 formulated relationship understanding of language as something with others.As language provides no which cannot provide an absolute absolute meaning or understanding, it meaning, a primordial sense of belonging follows that a conscious framing of the which humans crave but are unable to relationship between individuals cannot obtain. Though Lacan promoted several be absolute.However, they long for the ideas pertinent to psychological sense of wholeness which was—in development, only a few key Lacan‘s theory—only present in the points,derived from (Sarup, 2011: 5), will womb, before sexual differentiation. They be brought up here. seek it, at times manipulating others to Lacan finds that humans become selfishly obtain a semblance of it, only to aware of their need for, and lack be further disappointed when wholeness is not found. The Real, an extra-linguistic the beginning of the National Revolution, entity which is, is inconceivable. A post- when he is about ten years old (61). By Oedipal individual is only capable of this time he has undergone Lacan‘s five framing an individual understanding of stages of self-loss: he has become the Real through the visually-based sexually-differentiated, received Imaginary (that which appears to be true) differentiated libidinal urges and realised and the linguistically-based Symbolic that they cannot be fulfilled, begun (that which is formulated as true);neither differentiating himself with the Other and is capable of revealing the Real.A true recognised his inherent lack of wholeness, understanding of one‘s self is thus language, and authority in the Name-of- unobtainable. the-Father. By the time he is introduced as a subject in Kubah,Karman isalready Analysis on his quest for wholeness. Kubah does not show Karman‘s At first Karmanattempts to satisfy his psychological development as he libidinal desires through Rifah, a girl experiences it, introducing the reader to several years his younger. Karman and the character after he has already spent 42 his family live on almost nothing but years searching for an unattainable sense cassava, owing to their state after since of wholeness. This search is linguistically the death of Karman‘s father. Rifah, formulated through flashbacks, allowing meanwhile, has been spoiled by her rich readers to begin to perceive (but never father, Haji Bakir. In order to obtain rice, really understand) it. For the purposes of and thus satisfy what he understands his this paper, Karman‘s search will be libidinal desires to be,Karman makes use explored chronologically,as he of the Imaginary and Symbolic truth that consciously experienced it, thus Rifah enjoys playing with whirligigs, and illustrating the causes and effects of will thus do anything to obtain one. He various stages in Karman‘s development. makes a whirligig from coconut leaves, Karman was born in 1935, but he is and is seemingly able to satisfy these only discussed as a subject sometime near libidinal urges: Rifah takes the whirligig and, in return, Karman and his brother are truth. He does not realise that what he offered plates of rice withside dishes, imagines, what he consciously formulates, which the two eat gluttonously. and what is Real are disparate. He is thus Karman is then brought to work for fortunate that his fellow villagers, though Haji Bakir‘s family, doing various driven by their own selfish desires, do not household chores and babysitting Rifah. manipulate Karman into actions which His goal is not to help the family, but are overly damaging to his own self- rather a tofulfill his needs for food and image. Karman is instead able to shelter. They provide both, as well as construct a positive view of his three quintals of rice for his family. This relationships with other, generating a is likewise selfish; Karman semblance of wholeness in which he can subconsciously craves the positive develop as a subject. Although he reception that such actions will bring, eventually becomes aware that there is allowing him to seek a sense of something he is lacking, including a job wholeness through the his family and the and romantic love, he imagines that it can community. Karman identifies his be easily fulfilled. He believes that he benefactorsas the Name-of-the-Father. will find a job easily and that Rifahwill be His deference is manifested in his ready to become his wife. diligence and, ultimately, his stand However, this unfounded belief against the crazed goat that attacks Rifah. opensKarman to more malevolent This is likewise not an action borne of manipulation, noted by the narrator as respect, but a selfish act meant to avoid inherently selfish and sparked in part by negative consequences which would Karman‘s gullibility.
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