Preservation of Bugis Ethnic Customs in Palu City Through Oral Literature: A Study in Literary Anthropology

Abstract

This study aims to describe the forms, uncover the meanings, and explain the strategies employed to maintain the customs of the Bugis ethnic community in Palu City through oral literature, using a literary anthropology approach combined with an ethnographic method. The research was conducted in two Bugis settlement and trading centers, namely Pasar Inpres Manonda and Pasar Masomba, through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation involving sanro (ritual leaders), traditional figures, and participants of customary ceremonies. Data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman, combined with oral-literary text analysis comprising transcription, structural identification, and meaning interpretation. The findings reveal that the maintenance of Bugis customs in Palu City is realized through three forms of oral literature displaying the structure of rites of passage (separation, liminal, and incorporation), namely the mabbaca doang ritual, the mappacci ritual, and elong recitation. These three forms embody the cultural values of reso, lempu', siri' na pesse, and getteng, which are symbolically interpreted through material elements such as four-colored sokko rice and pacci leaves, as well as metaphorical diction in the utterances. The strategies employed to maintain these customs include family- and diaspora-community-based value transmission, contextual adaptation of rituals with Islamic teachings through barasanji and mapenretemme, and the appropriation of digital media together with the Kerukunan Keluarga Sulawesi Selatan (KKSS) community association. These findings confirm that oral literature functions both as a medium and a marker of ethnic boundary, enabling the Bugis community to maintain its customs amid the multiethnic society of Palu City without withdrawing from cross-ethnic interaction with the Kaili people as the local indigenous population.