Browsing by Author "Dirwan Ahmad Darwis"

This research aims to identify the existence of the practice of Langgam Kato Nan Ampek (LKNA) amongst the contemporary Minangkabau artists and culture activists through their cultural dialectic process in Padang city, the Province of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The study is based on the lack of scientific resources found on LKNA practices as the principle of decency in the Minangkabau daily conversation, also as a guide to communicating the ancient community in their social interactions, which is now almost forgotten by the majority Minangkabaus. In the course of this research, data analysis involving 11 research subjects conducted through a Focus Group Discussion, and the other 11 subjects done through questionnaires, altogether were involving 22 artists and cultural figures. Three objectives are highlighted, namely; a) to assess Minangkabau artists and cultural activists’ current understanding of LKNA principles, b) to determine whether LKNA principles are still in practice within the contemporary Minangkabau artists and culture activists in their daily communication process, and c) to analyze the causes of erosion and fading of LKNA practices in the today’s life of Minangkabau artist and culture activists. Based on the research findings, there has been a misunderstanding amongst the subjects toward the use of LKNA reflecting the decline in the appreciation and understanding of these cultural figures in the actual practices of LKNA. Modernization in today’s time causing the practice of LKNA is getting eroded and faded in the life of these activists. Therefore, this research is considered very important as an effort to preserve the cultural heritage that contains high value of moral education, which also in-line with the Islamic teachings and that will be beneficial for future Minangkabau generations. The study will enrich the corpus of knowledge; the findings can be used as a reference material for those who wish to do further study on this topic. This LKNA study will also be useful for the policy-makers as a reference to create a syllabus to provide courses at various levels of schools such as for the purpose of student’s moral development.