Menaklukkan yang eksotik: Suku Nias dari kacamata Italia dalam novel Musim Kupu-kupu Kuning karya Vanni Puccioni

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the headhunting tradition of the Nias Tribe as represented in Musim Kupu-Kupu Kuning (The Season of Yellow Butterflies) by Vanni Puccioni, using Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach to power. The headhunting tradition, historically practiced by the Nias people, involved the decapitation of enemies in warfare—serving as both a symbol of victory and a means to acquire supernatural power from ancestral spirits. Foucault’s genealogy of power emphasizes the interplay between knowledge, power, and subjectivity, revealing how historical discourses construct social realities. In this context, the genealogical method is employed to uncover how the headhunting tradition operates not merely as a cultural ritual, but as a form of power embedded within a wider network of social forces. This study uses qualitative textual analysis to examine how the novel articulates this practice through narrative, imagery, and symbolic representation. It investigates how the tradition functions as a mechanism of authority, a marker of collective identity, and a reinforcement of hierarchical structures within the Nias community. Through Foucault’s framework, the paper reveals how knowledge of violence and ritual is mobilized to sustain domination and cultural continuity, particularly when viewed through the Italian lens portrayed in the novel.