Cultural Preservation: Rediscovering the Endangered Oral Tradition of Maluku (A Case Study on Kapata of Central Maluku)

Oct 15, 2026

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Language and culture interdepend as language enables cultural transmission, while tradition shapes cultural identity. In Maluku, Kapata functions as sacred chant and folk song carrying history, advice, and prayer, yet it is now considered endangered. This descriptive qualitative study uses interviews and library research to trace Kapata’s history, classify its categories and social functions, and interpret meanings expressed through its language. Preservation is pursued via formal education, arts performance, and advanced documentation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time11 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Concepts of language, culture, and literature

Oral tradition as process and outcome

Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 [www.alls.aiac.org.au](www.alls.aiac.org.au) | Cultural Preservation: Rediscovering the Endangered Oral Tradition of Maluku (A Case Study on Kapata of Central Maluku)
Fathu Rahman*, Prihe Slamatin Letlora Hasanuddin University, Indonesia
Corresponding Author: Fathu Rahman, E-mail: [fathu.rahman@unhas.ac.id](fathu.rahman@unhas.ac.id) | | | --- | --- | | ARTICLE INFO | ABSTRACT
Language and culture are two aspects which interchange each other where the language is | | Article history | | | Received: December 19, 2017 | a medium to get information about the culture. As the product of language and culture, oral | | Accepted: March 02, 2018 | tradition plays a vital role in Maluku not only as the most powerful and sacred chant that regulate | | Published: April 30, 2018
Volume: 9 Issue: 2 | the life of people but also as the folk song that contains history, advice, and prayer. Kapata nowadays is assumed as the endangered oral traditions in Maluku. To rediscover the endangered | | Advance access: March 2018 | oral traditions, descriptive qualitative research by using interview and library study in gaining the supporting information was implemented. Furthermore, this research was aimed (1) to figure out the history of Kapata and the way to preserve it (2) to map out the categories of Kapata and | | | | | Conflicts of interest: None | its function in social life, and (3) to elaborate the meaning of language expression conveyed | | Funding: None | in Kapata. Through this research, it is hoped that Kapata can be preserved by implementing | | | it in formal education, art performance and framing in an advanced documentation so that all generations of Maluku are able to not only to recognize and make use it in social life as the way to preserve the Kapata as an endangered oral tradition. | | Key words:
Culture, Language, Folksong, | | | Oral Literature, Tradition, | | | Endangered Traditions | | INTRODUCTION Language and culture are two important elements which cannot be separated each other. Language is a medium of communication to acquire the information of culture and others. Thus, humans are gifted to convey the message and to communicate one another by using language. Moreover, language is a part of the culture and both language and culture must be maintained. Culture is formed from the way people think and behave. From the way of thinking and behavior is formed a tradition of a culture that is different from one group with other community groups. On the other hand, in a contemporary variant, the culture is defined as a social domain which underlines the practices, discourses, and material expressions, that express the continuities and discontinuities of the social meaning of a life held in common. Otherwise, culture also determines as the group of human activities including history, knowledge, basifies, arts, and morals as well as other traditions (Taylor in Latupapua, 2012). Further, culture generally consists of folksong, dances, games, and folklore that basically are determined as the living expression, developed and became famous in particular local ethnic. In line with this idea, Surya (2017: 508) stated that many ethnic groups have inherited the collection of folklore from generation to generation. As a product of language and culture, literature determines as human activities in particular media and have particular aesthetic characteristics as well (Taylor in Latupapua, 2012) . Therefore it can be concluded that literature has a high potential to represent human cultures. Speaking of literature, it is divided into two main parts which are oral literature and written literature (Teeuw, 1994) . The main difference between them is the medium which is determining transformation process in society. Oral literature is a form of literature that has been practiced in human civilization. It uses utterances or verbal language as the media soit

FAQs

What role does Kapata play in Maluku culture?

Kapata serves as a vital oral tradition, functioning as both sacred chant regulating people’s lives and a folk song conveying history, advice, and prayer.

How does the study attempt to rediscover endangered oral traditions like Kapata?

It applies descriptive qualitative research using interviews and library study to gather supporting information for rediscovery and preservation.

What are the study’s main objectives?

The research aims to identify Kapata’s history and preservation approach, map Kapata’s categories and functions in social life, and elaborate the meanings of language expressions conveyed in Kapata.

Oct 15, 2026

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