The Shifting Meaning of Pre-Marital Ruwatan in the Shadow of Social Hegemony: A Case Study of the Pendalungan Community In Jember

Humanities and Social Science

This study investigates the transformation in meaning and function of pre-marital ruwatan, or rokat pandhaba, within the Pendalungan community in Jember, East Java. Ruwatan, traditionally perceived as a sacred purification ritual, has evolved into a socially driven practice shaped by cultural hegemony and community expectations. Using a descriptive qualitative method, field data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation, then analyzed using the frameworks of Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony and Michel Foucault’s theory of power relations. The findings reveal that while the form of ruwatan has undergone simplification—from all-night rituals involving ancestral narratives to brief communal prayers and siraman—the essence of social and cultural control remains intact. The study shows that younger generations often engage in ruwatan not because of personal belief but as a response to social pressures, particularly from parents and community leaders. Ruwatan functions as a form of social technology that disciplines individual behavior and affirms collective identity. Kyai, traditional elders, and village officials play crucial roles as discursive agents who maintain the practice by blending religious legitimacy with customary authority. Their positions allow them to reinterpret ruwatan in ways that make it acceptable within Islamic frameworks while preserving its cultural roots. This study concludes that the sustainability of pre-marital ruwatan lies not in spiritual conviction but in hegemonic social mechanisms that shape compliance and perpetuate tradition. The case of the Pendalungan community exemplifies how traditional rituals survive in modern contexts through the interplay of symbolic power, communal values, and adaptive cultural leadership.

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