A study on motifs of sasak traditional wedding undergarment dodot and bendang in the context of socio-culture / Lalu Rizkyan Hakiky and Dr. Arba’iyah Ab. Aziz

The Sasak tribe is a native of the island of Lombok, a small island located in the province of West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The traditional clothing of the Sasak tribe is unique in its clothing style, which is a mixture of Javanese and Balinese customs, but it also adapts the Malay style in the use of songket cloth which is called the “Subahnale songket” cloth as the undergarment. The objectives of this study are to identify and analyse the motifs of songket subahnale fabrics and their relations in the social and cultural context of the Sasak tribe. The researcher provided 4 samples of songket subahnale which are commonly used as undergarments, called dodot and bendang, for traditional Sasak clothes. To analyse the cloth motifs, the researcher uses the Ferdinand de Saussure's semiotic theory which studies the meaning of symbols or signs. The results show that there is a dominant type of floral motif from all identified motifs and Islamic values which are found embedded in the symbolism of these motifs. In addition, many motif meanings describe the social and cultural aspects of the Sasak tribe, such as the nanas motif, which describes the background of the Sasak people who are agrarian, and the tri raja motif, which symbolises the 3 pillars that the king of Lombok must practice for his princess’ life. Apart from aiming to find out the social and cultural values implied in the songket motifs on the undergarments of traditional Sasak clothes, this research also aims to be a reference for relevant research which raises the theme of socio-cultural values in the motifs on traditional clothes in Lombok which is still rarely explored.