Narrative negotiation and cultural transformation

The impact of the reinterpretation of the mahabharata epic in puppet comic authored by teguh santosa

Abstract

The Mahabharata puppet comic by Teguh Santosa possesses distinctive characteristics, particularly its realistic visual style rendered through sharp black-and-white illustration techniques. The Mahabharata narrative within the comic incorporates extensive elements of Javanese cultural identity. This study aims to examine Teguh Santosa’s epic puppet comic Mahabharata through the lens of articulation theory. The development of comics in Indonesia has been strongly influenced by Western cultural traditions. Both the form and content of comics are often associated with foreign cultural expressions, such as American comic art, while the Mahabharata story itself originates from India. However, in the hands of comic artist Teguh Santosa—whose works have been published from 1984 to the present—there is a clear effort to construct an epic puppet comic Mahabharata that embodies an Indonesian identity. Employing a critical qualitative descriptive design, this research investigates the articulation of identity discourse within comic cultural practices. Data derived from Teguh Santosa’s comic works were analyzed using comic theory and articulation theory. The findings indicate that the articulation of Indonesian identity in the comic is expressed through adaptations of cultural values within the Mahabharata narrative and the insertion of regional (Javanese) language, reflecting the cultural background of the comic artist.