Recreolization as Decolonial Dramaturgy: Tansi Language in Tonel Performance, Sawahlunto City

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.22.1.2023.3967

Keywords:

dramaturgy, decolonial theatre, postcolonial tourism, creole, Tansi language, Tonel performance, Sawahlunto city, Indonesia tropics

Abstract

Tonel performance in the city of Sawahlunto is practiced by the ethnic community who speak the Tansi creole language. Sawahlunto in tropical West Sumatra, Indonesia, was built by the Dutch colonialists in the late 19th century as a coal mining center based on the labor of local people and the forced labor of convicts of various ethnicities sent from around Indonesia. The multiethnic population developed a pidgin language which later became the Tansi creole language. This article discusses a new strategy for developing Tonel dramaturgy, which emerged through performances at the Sawahlunto Cultural Festival in 2021. Paying attention to the theatrical communication that occurs in Tonel performance, this study analyses how changes in the Tansi language used during performances, can be recognized as processes of decreolization and recreolization. The recreolization process proved to be a way to break the remnants of the continuing effects of colonialism in the Tansi culture. By changing words or adding new words to the Tansi language during the performances, the Tansi community builds a new dramaturgy based in a practice of cultural decoloniality through Tonel performance. This decolonial practice is particularly significant in the currrent development of Sawahlunto as a postcolonial mining tourism city, and the detangling of its colonial legacy.

Author Biographies

Dede Pramayoza, Indonesia Institute of The Arts at Padangpanjang, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Dede Pramayoza, is a theater researcher and lecturer at the Indonesian Art Institute in Padangpanjang, who received his PhD from the Postgraduate School of Gadjah Mada University in the Field of Performing Arts and Fine Arts Studies. Pramayoza writes about the practice of postcolonial theater in Indonesia, among them is sandiwara and tonel from West Sumatra. Pramayoza’s research interests are in the field of performing arts theory, particularly dramaturgy, postcolonial theatre, performance studies and festival studies. In his thesis, Pramayoza (2012) examines the method of creating popular theater in West Sumatra and the impact of colonialism on it. Meanwhile, in his dissertation, Pramayoza (2019) focuses on dramaturgical discourse and the role of dramaturg in today’s cross-cultural theater as an emancipatory and decolonizing strategy. As a descendant of the Minangkabau ethnic group, Pramayoza writes this article from a self-critical perspective.

Fresti Yuliza, Paramitha Tourism Academy Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Fresti Yuliza, is a performing arts and tourism researcher, lecturer at the Paramitha Tourism Academy Bukittinggi, who holds an M.A degree from the Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University in the Field of Performing Arts and Fine Arts Studies. Yuliza writes about the practice of performing arts in relation to tourism, including in the context of tourism festivals in West Sumatra. Yuliza’s research interests are in the field of performing arts practice, folk performing arts, rituals, and festival studies. In her thesis, Yuliza (2018) examines methods for creating contemporary dance based on traditional martial arts in West Sumatra. Yuliza is of Serawai (South Bengkulu) and Minangkabau mixed parentage, and grew up in Serawai culture, so she writes this article from another ethnic perspective.

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Published

2023-07-03

How to Cite

Pramayoza, D., & Yuliza, F. (2023). Recreolization as Decolonial Dramaturgy: Tansi Language in Tonel Performance, Sawahlunto City. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 22(1), 53–78. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.22.1.2023.3967

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2023): Decolonizing the Tropics: Part One

Section

Performativity and Performances

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