The Concept of Budi in the Malay-Speaking World: A Structuralist View of Sitti Nurbaya

Abstract

The word Budi is a well-known term in the Malay-speaking world and has numerous meanings. In this article, the authors describe the term Budi and its use. The authors argue that Budi stands for a whole concept and is closely related to the Malay worldview. A structuralist research method was used to detect specific patterns. In their analysis, the researchers considered the ideas of Claude Levi-Strauss and Ferdinand Saussure. The researchers analyzed an ‘ideal’ personality that is mentioned in the literature. The authors looked into the novel ‘Sitti Nurbaya’ and illustrated the concept of Budi. It was detected that Sitti Nurbaya personifies in many ways the element of Budi and is a kind of ideal. On the other side, many despicable character traits could be found in the character of Datuk Meringgih. The authors concluded that Budi is an idea that includes a lot of praiseworthy character traits of the people in the Malay-speaking world.

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“…This kind of analysis may provide a big picture explanation in analyzing certain individual texts. Such is the case with publications such as Shortt et al (2012) and Stark & Zakaria (2022). The first publication employed a Structuralist analysis of a teachers' code of conduct to argue about how teachers are expected to bridge the political and ideological tensions of individuals in a modern society.…”