PERFORMATIVITI GENDER DAN ESTETIKA RITUAL DALAM PEMANIS MASYARAKAT KAGAYAN DI SABAH: ANALISIS JO-HA-KYŪ TERHADAP REPRESENTASI FEMININ

(Gender Performativity and Ritual Aesthetics in the Pemanis of the Kagayan Community in Sabah: A Jo-Ha-Kyū Analysis of Feminine Representation)

Abstract

ABSTRAK

Kajian ini meneliti representasi feminin dalam ritual Pemanis masyarakat Kagayan di Sabah melalui analisis performativiti gender dan struktur dramatik Jo-Ha-Kyū. Walaupun ritual tradisional di Asia Tenggara sering dikaji dari sudut fungsi spiritual dan sosial, dimensi estetika dramatik serta konstruksi gender simbolik masih kurang diberikan perhatian. Kajian ini memfokuskan kepada bagaimana ombo’ lelaki memanifestasikan watak wanita sebagai simbol kosmologi, keseimbangan spiritual, dan kuasa ritual dalam konteks budaya Kagayan. Kajian menggunakan pendekatan etnografi persembahan melalui pemerhatian partisipan, temu bual separa berstruktur, dan analisis audio-visual terhadap ritual yang didokumentasikan di daerah Kudat dan Semporna, Sabah. Dapatan menunjukkan bahawa representasi feminin dalam ritual berkembang secara dramatik melalui tiga fasa Jo-Ha-Kyū: permulaan yang terkawal dan sakral (Jo), perkembangan emosi dan intensiti tubuh ritual (Ha), serta pengembalian kepada keseimbangan kosmos (Kyū). Kajian ini berhujah bahawa watak wanita dalam ritual Pemanis tidak berfungsi sebagai representasi gender biologikal semata-mata, tetapi sebagai simbol performatif yang menghubungkan tubuh, spiritualiti, dan struktur sosial komuniti. Secara teoritikal, kajian ini memperluas aplikasi Jo-Ha-Kyū ke dalam konteks ritual pribumi Borneo serta menyumbang kepada perbahasan tentang fleksibiliti gender dalam persembahan ritual Asia Tenggara.

ABSTRACT

This study examines the representation of femininity in the Pemanis ritual of the Kagayan community in Sabah through the perspectives of gender performativity and the Jo-Ha-Kyū dramatic structure. Although traditional rituals in Southeast Asia have frequently been examined from spiritual and socio-cultural perspectives, their dramatic aesthetics and symbolic constructions of gender remain underexplored. This study focuses on how a male ombo' (ritual specialist) embodies female characters as symbolic representations of cosmology, spiritual equilibrium, and ritual authority within the Kagayan cultural tradition. Employing a performance ethnography approach, the research draws upon participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and audio-visual documentation of Pemanis rituals conducted in Kudat and Semporna, Sabah. The findings reveal that feminine representation develops progressively through the three phases of Jo-Ha-Kyū: a controlled and sacred opening (Jo), an intensification of emotional expression and ritual embodiment (Ha), and a concluding restoration of cosmological balance (Kyū). The study argues that female characters in the Pemanis ritual do not merely represent biological gender but function as performative symbols that mediate the relationship between the body, spirituality, and the social order of the Kagayan community. Theoretically, this research extends the application of the Jo-Ha-Kyū framework to the indigenous ritual traditions of Borneo and contributes to broader discussions on gender performativity, ritual aesthetics, and the fluidity of gender representation in Southeast Asian ritual performances.