THE CONSTRUCTION OF POSTCOLONIAL
DISCOURSE IN THE STORY ROBOHNYA SURAU KAMI
BY A. A. NAVIS
Resneri Daulay1
Universitas Ahmad Dahlan (UAD), Yogyakarta, Indonesia
resneri.daulay@enlitera.uad.ac.id
Tomi Arianto2
Universitas Putera Batam (UPB), Batam, Indonesia
tomi.arianto@puterabatam.ac.id

ABSTRACT
The story of Robohnya Surau Kami by A. A. Navis is an indirectly
provocative work of fiction which arouse eastern society, represented in
the life of Minangkabau people at that time, to realize their helplessness
in order to take the initiative and express their silenced voices. This
short story directs people to carry out a reformist movement in their
constraints to the traditions they have lived for centuries because of
colonialism. This short story was made in the 1990s where many
Minangkabau Ulemas tended to focus more on education and
intellectual activity rather than physical resistance. Orientalist discourse
manifests itself as an influential system of ideas or as a network of
various intellectual interests and meanings that are implied in various
contextual, social, political, and constitutional of colonial hegemony. As
alluded above, surau becomes a symbol of the institutions used by the
colonial to facilitate the process of inculcating ideology and religion as
the means of control in society. The result of this research represented
that the construction of postcolonial discourse in the story Robohnya
Surau Kami by AA. Navis reflected into the concept of demonization,
dehumanization, western hegemonic. Paradigms that places eastern
culture as old-fashioned, backward and stupidity are a construction to
build demonization in the story. Thus, through the character of Ajo Sidi
as an agent, the eastern people represented by the grandfathers are
alienated, instigated, and subsequently experience a divided identity
called by dehumanization. This demonization and dehumanization
continued to be created and maintained by instilling hegemonic
doctrines even without violence.
Keywords: Orientalism, Post colonialism, Construction Discourse

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1. Introduction
Postcolonial theory can be defined
as a critical theory which attempts to
express
the
consequences
of
colonialism. Postcolonial analysis can
be used to explore hidden or
deliberately hidden aspects, so that it
understands how the power works. On
the other hand, it dismantles the
underlying disciplines, institutions, and
ideologies. Postcolonial discourse is an
inseparable relation between western
and eastern power. Loomba (1998)
described that postcolonialism did not
come after colonialism and signify the
disappearing of colonialism, but it
became a continuity of colonialist
traumatic domination and colonialist
mental heredity. It works in line with a
construction
empowered
with
colonialist discursive dominance in
terms of thought and mentality lasting
in colonialized people.
The source of postcolonial theory
was marked by the publication of Said
(1978), Orientalism. The main thesis of
Said's book uses the approach of the
relationship between power and
knowledge. Foucault (2007) defined
orientalists as a problem of western
scientific studies on Eastern which was
not only solely driven by the interests
of knowledge, but also the interests of
colonialism.
The
purpose
for
understanding orientalists is to
maintain its power, that is filled with
ideological political visions and
missions. The study is merely a form or
continuation of colonialism. Eastern
nation is constructed as a nation that is
synonymous
with
irrationality,
depravity, immorality, immaturity, and

"different" from rationality, wisdom,
maturity, and "normal” western.
Said's point of view (1978) seemed
to express explicitly what was hidden in
the consciousness of many people,
especially those in the former Western
colony now called the "third world", to
rise, struggle, and find an awareness by
demanding justice and equality. A
lawsuit that emphasizes freedom and
rejection of all hybrid blend of thought
or power, for example, finds its most
formulated form of philosophical
thought as stated by Jacques Derrida
and Michael Foucault. It is no
coincidence that Gayatri C. Spivak, a
famous figure for his great contribution
in building postcolonial studies on an
ongoing basis, wrote a lengthy
introduction to Derrida (1982) book. In
the introduction of the book, basically
Spivak rejected all constraining and
limiting powers, while at the same
time, expressed his priority over
freedom. The oppressed, colonized,
and subaltern people must speak and
take the initiative or action on their
silenced voices.
The Story of Robohnya Surau Kami
by A.A. Navis told about two different
ways of thinking betweeen the
character of grandfather and Ajo Sidi.
This story centres on the setting of the
Surau as the eastern representation.
Surau referred to a symbol of
institution and Minangkabau as the
land of birth that shows a dimension of
statehood directed to the life of
indigenous or Eastern society. The
diction of surau, and names of
characters in the short story clearly
describe the geographical dimension of

14 | P a g e

Minangkabau society that is closely
related to customs and cultures they
have followed for years. In Surau,
Minangkabau people studied about the
way to understanding the universe and
the hereafter; from learning about
Tarekat, religious knowledge, selfdefence, as well as how to behave as
godly people. Ajo Sidi is a missionary
who has a mission to influence the
grandfather (Gharim) to leave his
habits. Through his gibberish, Ajo Sidi
influenced grandfather that his actions
were nothing but emptiness.
The representation of colonialism
in the story describes how Ajo Sidi's
role as an ideological agent and
grandfather
represented
eastern
culture. The postcolonial discourse in
the story can be seen from how the
western ideology through postcolonial
agents and eastern cultures that have
binary opposition and intertwined. This
analysis can be traced using the
postcolonial approach. Edward Said in
his
concept
of
demonization,
dehumanization, western hegemonic.
Paradigms that places eastern culture
as old-fashioned, backward and
stupidity are a construction to build
demonization in the story. Thus,
through the character of Ajo Sidi as an
agent, the eastern people represented
by the grandfathers are alienated,
instigated,
and
subsequently
experience a divided identity called by
dehumanization. This demonization
and dehumanization continued to be
created and maintained by instilling
hegemonic doctrines even without
violence.

2. Literature Review
1.1. Post Colonialism
According to Ashcroft et al. (2002)
the meaning and the scope of
‘postcolonialism/post-colonialism’ was
now broadened, including the study
and analysis of European territorial
conquests, the various events of
European colonialisms, the operations
of an empire, the subject construction
in colonial discourse, the resistance of
those subjects, and most importantly
perhaps the difference of responses
between them and their contemporary
colonial legacies in both pre-and postindependence countries. While its use
has tended to focus on the cultural
production, it is becoming widely used
in historical, political, sociological and
economic analyses, as these factors
continue to engage with the impact of
European imperialism upon the society
of the world.
1.2. Orientalism
The study of white race and nonwhite race is discussed in Edward Said’s
book entitled Orientalism. Said (1978)
said that becoming white people was a
strong identity and it strengthened
themselves. To have a white skin does
not only mean to show the skin colour,
but it also shows someone’s identity.
The identity of coloured skin only
becomes the object that needs to be
shunned and fought by white people if
necessary. Said (1978) stated that
white people are not only a reality but
also a concept. To be white is a
concrete and simple way to show the
existence in this world, a way to hold
on the reality, language, and thought.
The writer simply conceptualizes

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orientalism in Said’s theory related to
an
image
creation.
Moreover,
Mashlihatin (2013) added that Western
and Eastern building constructions do
not only occur in both nationalities. It is
undeniable that inherent mentality
from the white people contributes to a
strong relation between western and
eastern because of the discourse of
colonialism image creation. In the
concept of the image creation, the
writer divides it into theoretical
understandings
including
demonization, dehumanization, and
western hegemony.
1.2.1. Demonization
In postcolonial theory, the
differences between western and
eastern are the topics mostly discussed.
Besides, other difference also exists as
a function to degrade one element
against each other such as old and new,
traditional and modern, men and
women, high and low culture, and
various cultural phenomena which
occupy positions as “men and women”.
1.2.2. Dehumanization
Said (1978) stated that eastern
nations are often seen as a structure
built based on biological determinism
and political moral teaching. Moreover,
if there are unpleasant eastern
elements (such as criminals, psychotics,
women, and poor people) which have a
different identity from virtuous western
elements, the eastern is sometimes
depicted as strange. The eastern
nations are regarded as problems that
need to be solved or limited because
colonial powers straightforwardly want
the East to be taken over.

1.2.3. Western Hegemony
Said adopted hegemony theory
dominated by authoritative practice.
This authoritarianism puts ideology as
something that needs to be understood
as an idea which supports the power of
certain social party. Otherwise, in
Foucauldian, Said (1978) adopted an
idea that knowledge is functioned as
colonialist tool to defend the power,
fulfilled with ideological political
interest, and the principle of
understanding about a history which
moves backward to return to the
present in order to maintain a
continuity.
According to Gramsci in Gupta
(2003), hegemony happened when the
oppressed
party’s
intellection,
especially the proletariat, obsessed and
accepted the way of thinking from
dominant party. The transformation
and the takeover of intellection in
hegemony theory is not only limited to
a political field, but also a discourse
with a strength from its physical.
Postcolonial western hegemony is not
done physically, but through the power
of a discourse, like western and nonwestern, western and indigenous
people, developed and developing
countries, industrial and agricultural
countries. The hegemony through a
discourse is performed far effectively
because it can be done over long
distance without creating any direct
intervention (Ratna 2010: 181-182).
1.3. Previous Study
There are many studies discussing
the application of a postcolonial
approach in literature. This study is one
of other dimensions that sees how

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contestation of postcolonial discourse
works in eastern society, especially in
the story of Robohnya Surau Kami by
A.A. Navis. From various existing
studies, the writer summarizes several
studies that have contributed to the
development of idea for this study.
These studies include:
The first journal was indexed in
scopus by Lang (2009) which examined
postcolonial discourse in the novel
Small Island by Andrea Levy. The article
discussed the deviation of postcolonial
discourse in a way a text is read.
According to Lang, the novel was made
along with the commemoration of the
200th of the slave trade and the
enactment of slavery laws. From the
result of this postcolonial schematic
reading,
Lang
depicted
the
discrimination and struggle for a slavery
abolition on an island also certain
ethnic minority in a postcolonial
perspective.
The second journal concentrated
more on a criticism and concept of
understanding in orientalism written by
Khalil (2004). Khalil explored Said’s
argument in term of orientalism
especially the issues related to
epistemological understanding about
the west and the east. In his opinion,
none of these responses are
comprehensive.
Lewis
counterargument
ignored
the
philosophical issue as a base to bet,
while Gandhi’s response provided more
promising alternative for a future
knowledge about “the Eastern”.
The other journal written by
Waworuntu and Arianto (2019) used
Bhabha’s approach (1994) regarding a
figure of identity experiencing a

mimicry. In the journal, Waworuntu
explained that an identity on mimicry
produced
hybridity,
which
is
represented by Ali, and ambivalence
through the character of the father.
Both are immigrants who were
influenced by a postcolonial thought.
Arianto (2019) also explained the
phenomenon of a postcolonial society
in a collection of short stories entitled
Jhumpa Lahiri. The article analyzes the
existence of women in postindependence
era
who
were
psychologically under the reflection of
postcolonial discourse. In another
article, Arianto (2018) analyzed
subaltern
women
through
Eka
Kurniawan’s story which states that
they were not able to speak and
legitimized to be oppressed. The story
of Sepasang Mata Dinaya Yang
Teraniyaya reflects how symbolic
violence in Bourdieu’s concept (1986) is
controverted by a country, a society,
even smallest range of family to
discredit women.

3. Research Method
Ratna (2004) said that data
collection methods and techniques are
basically a set of methods or
techniques that became an extension
of the human senses because the aim is
to collect empirical facts related to
research problems. The method used in
this study was qualitative descriptive.
The method can be interpreted as a
work to understand the object that is
the target of the study. The writer
collected data by colecting data related
to postcolonial discourse in the work
itself. These data were divided into two
parts, namely primary data and

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secondary data. The primary data of
this study was in the story Robohnya
Surau Kami. While secondary data was
a collection of data outside the story,
such as books, journals, essays and
others related to the object of
research.
Data analysis methods are basically
ways to sort out, classify qualitative
data so that later certain relations
could be established between one data
category and another. The analysis
method that would be used in this
research was the reading method. In
this case, the text would be read in
story Robohnya Surau Kami to establish
communication
with
it.
This
communication would run continuously
and back and fourth between the text
and the reader, considering the text
itself only exists whe the reader reads
and literayure could only produce a
response whe it is read.

4. Result and Discussion
The short story from A.A. Navis is
begun with a depiction of spatial
structure in a form of surau which
refers to a symbol of institution and
Minangkabau as the land of birth that
shows a dimension of statehood
directed to the life of indigenous or
Eastern society. The diction of surau,
and names of characters in the short
story clearly describe the geographical
dimension of Minangkabau society that
is closely related to customs and
cultures they have followed for years.
Talking about social life and
community in Minangkabau, Social
construction formed in religious
perception of society which is
inseparable from its habit is seen.

There is a well-known philosophy from
Minangkabau stating that Adat Basandi
Syara’, Syara’ Basandi Kitabullah (ABS
SBK), Syara’ mangato, Adat mamakai.
This philosophy seems to strengthen
the existence of Islam in social life, and
it is inseparable from Minang’s daily
life.
Surau is not only believed by
Minangkabau people as a building for
religious activity, but also as a place to
learn about Minangkabau traditional
advice, martial arts, randai, and other
cultural traditions. Surau is also a place
where people are preparing themselves
to be mature in the future. However,
there is still a value shifting found in
the society caused by a constructed
mentality, as the result of colonialism
that has lasted for centuries.
Orientalist discourse is manifested
as an influential system of idea, various
concerns, and intertextual meaning
which are applied into various contexts,
society, politics, and constitution from
colonial hegemony. As stated before,
surau becomes a symbol of institution
used by colonial to ease the process of
theorizing an ideology and religion as a
controlling tool in society. Meanwhile,
Minangkabau is depicted as a
representation of the eastern society
who owns natural wealth, strong
culture, and social norms. They are
used by the colonial to maintain their
dominance.
Berger & Luckmann (1966) defined
social control as one of the ways to
control the dissidents. Besides, Joseph
S Rourcek, as stated in Soerjono
Soekanto (1982), said that social
control is either a planned or
unplanned process which tends to

18 | P a g e

educate. It also persuaded people to
obey the valid social principle.
Generally, it can be concluded that
social control is a way or process of
supervision, either planned or not, to
invite, educate, and force people to
behave under social norms. In the short
story, religion and religious norms
become a social tool in a society.
The writer divided the concept of
image creation found in the story
Robohnya Surau Kami into three
aspects. They were:
1) Demonization
in
creating
traditional and modern image
From a narrative structure of the
story, the narrator’s position, which
refers to “I”, is involved in the story.
Although its position is not fully
involved, it still makes the narrator
know everything well because he
positions himself using approaches to
other characters. In this case, the
narrator tells a story about a character
of a garin surau, called as the
grandfather, and Ajo Sidi, as a braggart
who influences the grandfather.
The grandfather who acts as garin
surau
is
represented
as
an
eastern/indigenous
person
who
experiences an ambivalence going
through hybridity. The figure of
grandfather is in opposition to Ajo Sidi,
represented as an indigenous person,
who criticizes the colonial boundaries
that has been strongly merged with
some parts of the Eastern to maintain
the dominance.
A colonial exploitation comes along
with a certain discourse which is
related to the colonized people. A
developing discourse tends to discredit

colonized nation as weak, irrational,
primitive and so on. The spread of this
idea arouses certain consequences for
“the Eastern” as colonized country
which there is unbalanced relation
between the colonizer and the
colonized. The relation leaves social
and cultural issues to society until now.
Therefore, the constructed mentalities
exist in ex-colonized country, and It can
be seen from the grandfather’s habitual
activities. He forgets his past and
focuses on his afterlife as seen from
quotation:
“I have been here since I was
young, haven’t I? I did not remember
that I had wife, child, family, like other
people. I do not think about my own
life. I do not seek for wealth or want to
build a house. All my life, physically and
spiritually, is given to Allah Subhanahu
wataaala. I never trouble anyone else.
Even I feel unwilling to kill a fly........”
(Navis, 1955)
From the quotation above, a
colonial discourse towards the Eastern
shapes a helpless mentality of the
grandfather. In other quotation, it is
also illustrated from the action of Ajo
Sidi, who tells a story about Haji Saleh
which satirizes the grandfather’s life.
“What do you always do in life?”
“I worship you, my God”
“Anything else?”
“My Lord, nothing do I do except
worshipping You, exclaiming Your
name, even in Your love, when I
am sick, Your name is the one I
always talk about........” (Navis,
1955)
The quotation highlights the illustration
of Haji Saleh created by Ajo Sidi which

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satirizes the grandfather who has
mentality as a part of colonized society.
This kind of mentality is preached
intentionally by colonizer to maintain
their dominance against the colonized.
Said mentioned this as Orientalism,
which involved the self-image of white
people portraying their dreams and
image to other party, the Orient.
Furthermore, the Orient is considered
as a reflection of Occident, the western.
The western depicts their confusion to
the eastern through colonization by
depleting the natural resource,
performing
epistemic
violence,
“educating” the Eastern, and even
colonizing the culture. This mentality
ignores the richness and diversity of the
eastern
history.
Furthermore,
Orientalism is not only related to the
representation or depiction of other
people (sang Liyan – colonized
community) but also to the mindset
knowledge, and action based on certain
point of view.
Spivak, in this case, explained that
in the state of being oppressed and
colonized, the subaltern needed to
speak up, take an initiation, and
perform an action regarding their
silenced voice. It is portrayed from the
action performed by Ajo Sidi. His habit,
as a braggart, does not only mock other
people, in fact, it also initiates others to
raise the awareness about local people
mentality which has been colonized for
a long time. His illustration about Haji
Saleh does not only refer to the
grandfather but also to all societies in
general to fight against the discourse
construction of a colonial dominance.
After the death of the grandfather,
Ajo Sidi does not stop his massive

movement. Ajo Sidi really understands
that his struggle to arouse community
awareness regarding the mentality
formed by former Dutch colony lasts
forever. This is stated in quotation:
“I looked for Aji Sidi at his house.
Yet I only met his wife.
And I asked her.
“He has gone. Ajo Sidi’s wife
answered”
“Did he not know the grandfather
was passed away?”
“He did, He asked me to buy sevenlayer shroud for grandfather”
“And my question is…. …… “Where
did he go?”
“Working”
“Working, I repeated once again in
emptiness.
“Yes, He went working.” (Navis,
1955)
It represents A.A. Navis’s struggle to
create provocative work to make the
society aware that they need to free
themselves from a postcolonial
doctrine. If the mindset still exists, the
struggle will not be stopped.
2) Dehumanization
A mindset of discrediting the
Eastern in the Western perspective
leads us to dehumanization. Said (2010:
318)
said
that
along
with
dehumanization, the Eastern was
considered as a framework formed by
biological determinism and political
moral doctrine. Besides, if the
unpleasant elements of the Eastern
(such as criminals, madmen, women,
and the poor) have a different identity
from the virtuous elements of the
Western, they are considered as
strange.

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In the short story of Robohnya
Surau Kami, dehumanization to the
eastern is not directly done by the
western, but by their own mindset
which is influenced by the western
thought. In the short story, it
dichotomized into two-dimensional
spaces, way of thinking, and culture.
The two-dimensional spaces, in
opposition binary, group an urban area
and rural area along with shaped
culture and way of thinking. These two
representatives are reflected in the
character of Ajo Sidi, a braggart, and
the grandfather, a gharim masjid. The
two-dimensional spaces form two gaps
between the western and eastern
mindset which affect the process of
dehumanization
in
postcolonial
construction.
The
first
construction
of
dehumanization is seen through the
choice of regional topography between
traditional market and village. The
required regional topography gives an
emphasis on the grandfather’s dwelling
place and the image of village
community. It can be seen from the
quotation:
“If years ago, Mister came to my
birthplace by bus, Mister would get
off near the market. Around 1
kilometre from the market, Mister
would find a way to my village. On
the narrow junction to the right,
the fifth junction, turn to the alley.
At the end of the street, Mister
would find an old Surau. In front of
the Surau, there was a pool which
its water flowed through 4 shower
taps.” (Navis, 1955)
The setting of the story represents
two-dimensional spaces reflected by

Ajo Sidi, classified as a civilized citizen
because he comes from downtown,
and the character of “I” who is
returning
to
his
hometown.
Meanwhile, the village is portrayed as
a remote, traditional village which is
far away from a market, considered as
a modern hub, and has many alleys.
The construction of space builds a
contrast
dimension
of
binary
opposition
to
emphasize
the
topography of the grandfather and
people as plebeian, backward, and left
behind. The setting of surau also
represents a Muslim civilized place,
adapted by Indonesian, which also
reflect the Eastern. The relation
between the setting of place and
region topography implies the
dehumanization link between western
and eastern civilization in term of
space.
The second construction of
dehumanization is seen from the way
the character of grandfather is
discredited along with the nonsensical
story told by Ajo Sidi. The grandfather,
the representative of the Eastern, is
considered as conservative character
by Ajo Sidi. The reason is because the
grandfather is described as someone
who only thinks about himself, is
ignorant, and close-minded. The
characteristic is seen from the
quotation:
“I was here since I was young,
wasn’t I? I did not remember that I
had wife, child, family, like other
people. I do not think about my
own life. I do not seek for wealth or
want to build a house.
………….

21 | P a g e

I never trouble anyone else. Even I
am unwilling to kill a fly. But now, I
am judged as cursed man. The bait
of hell. Don’t you think my God will
be angry with me if that was what I
did? Will I be cursed if I serve Him
with all my life? I never think about
my future, because I believe that
God exists and loves his virtuous
people” (Navis, 1995)
The grandfather is depicted as
antisocial, and ignorant. He does not
care about worldly life, yet he only
busies with praying and worshipping
God. Those characteristics are
considered as big mistakes by Ajo Sidi.
His profesion as gharim, whose daily
activities are praying and worshipping
God, is influenced by Ajo Sidi’s
nonsensical talk. Ajo Sidi considers the
grandfather’s actions as the eastern
behaviour which causes his nation to
be colonized. Ajo Sidi also influences
the grandfather by giving him a story
of an afterlife illustrated by the
character of Haji Saleh. Haji Saleh does
not enter the heaven, instead, he is
thrown into the hell due to his mistake
which always worshipping God
without thinking about worldly life,
according to Ajo Sidi’s story.
The story indirectly constructs two
dimensions of thinking which are Ajo
Sidi, who has western thought, and
the grandfather, who has spiritual soul
and eastern thought. Ajo Sidi
considers a worldly life is not only
about God but also principles of
capitalist thought. It is seen from his
way of thinking on how to maintain
social relationship, what the forest,
sea and earth have which are stolen
by other people as a loss. Therefore,

the grandfather’s worship activities for
years are considered as empty and
unvalued by Ajo Sidi. The grandfather
feels unpleasant and worthless after
hearing the story from Ajo Sidi. That is
how the construction of postcolonial
discourse
works
through
dehumanization. All the superiorities
and civilizations are parts of the
western, while inferiorities and
primitiveness are parts of the eastern.
3) Western Hegemony
The construction of postcolonial
discourse process is supported by a
hegemony which is done slowly or
without any physical hardness. The
story of Robohnya Surau Kami
represents an epic story on how
metaphorical language works to show
how a hegemonic contestation is done
to the eastern, through the character
of the grandfather, by hybrid
character such as Ajo Sidi. According
to Said, who adapted Gramsci
perspective, a hegemony happened
when oppressed party’s mindset,
especially the proletarian, was
obsessed
and
accepted
the
dominance’s
way
of
thinking.
Transformation and takeover of the
mindset are not only limited in
politics, but also intellect, morality,
religion, and taste. Because of the
hegemony and Ajo Sidi’s words, Ajo
Sidi’s nonsensical story affects to
grandfather’s action. This can be seen
from the end of the story as described:
“So, it was the Ajo Sidi’s story I
heard from from grandfather. It
was a story that saddened
grandfather. The next day, when I
wanted to go in early morning, my

22 | P a g e

wife asked me if it was fine for me
not to visit him.
“Who died?” I shockingly asked
“Grandfather”
“Grandfather?”
“Yes. He died horribly in surau at
dawn. He cut his throat with a
razor.” (Navis, 1955)
The above quotation shows how Ajo
Sidi takes a decision. He was
eventually affected by Ajo Sidi’s
nonsensical story and committed
suicide. Ajo Sidi, in this case,
successfully kills him slowly with his
nonsense. He justifies that the
grandfather’s action is totally a
mistake. Ajo Sidi also omits the
eastern elements, such as piety and
devotion to God, through propaganda
about worldly life. At the end of the
story, Ajo Sidi only asked to buy sevenlayer shroud for the grandfather
without feeling guilty. Moreover, he
continues his job to spread the
propaganda to other eastern people.
Transformation and takeover of
the mindset were classified as a
western hegemony. As it was
discussed before when demonization
and dehumanization were done, a
strong perspective of someone who
does ideological propaganda was
applied by a hegemony which was
done effortlessly and orderly. The
western always kept constructing the
eastern way of thinking to leave their
originality and follow the western
cultures. The western cultures were
classified as full of capitalism,
liberalism, and dichotomy which
divided superiority and inferiority in
terms of mentality and psychology.
With the continuous process of

hegemony, the western successfully
omited a certain nation eastern
culture only by doing a propaganda. It
had the same case depicted by
characters of the grandfather and Ajo
Sidi. All the grandfather’s deeds were
gone because of Ajo Sidi’s nonsense.

5. Conclusion
The story of Robohnya Surau Kami
by A.A. Navis implicitly reflected how a
contestation of postcolonial discourse
happens. By using Erward Said’s theory
though a concept of orientalism, a
postcolonial discourse was shown in
the demonization of an image creation,
dehumanization,
and
western
hegemony. The image creation had an
important role to create binary
opposition between western and
eastern through certain phenomena
related to doctrinized and accepted
idea about superiority and inferiority.
Dehumanization is a form of execution
to discredit the eastern through the its
ideology. The image of inferiority which
is taught into postcolonial mentality is
strengthened with a discredit that the
eastern is certainly primitive. As a
result, there was nothing wrong if the
eastern become backward and
uncivilized. Moreover, the western
hegemony continued to spread to
change the mindset and the culture of
the eastern. What Ajo Sidi and the
grandfather experience in the short
story
described
a
postcolonial
contestation which was depicted when
Ajo Siji, with his nonsensical story,
changed the grandfather’s habits and
even lead him to death. Ajo Sidi is
considered as a postcolonial agent who
spreads propaganda to make people

23 | P a g e

leave their eastern culture and have
hybrid identity.

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