Urban vs Rural: The Young Generation's Understanding of the Lexicon of Subak (Balinese Traditional Irrigation System)

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the lexicon of Subak which defines as the traditional Balinese Irrigation System written in the Balinese texts and at analyzing the Balinese young generation's understanding of the lexicon. This research was conducted using a mixed-method research model with an exploratory sequential design. Qualitative data were collected through documentation and interview techniques. The researcher collected eleven ancient manuscripts and interviewed five informants, two ancient manuscript experts, and three Subak leaders, who were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Quantitative data was collected using a test on the Subak lexicon to 100 high school students in cities and 100 students in villages. These students were selected using simple random sampling. The collected qualitative data was analyzed using an interactive data analysis model. While the qualitative data from the test results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests. This study found that there were 110 lexicons which were grouped into five categories, namely: management of subak, rituals, tools and techniques for planting rice, animals and plants in rice fields, and traditional Balinese rice field infrastructure. In terms of the young generation’s understanding, it was found that there was a significant difference between the understanding of students in the village and the city, which means that the location where they live affects the understanding. Even though the different levels of understanding differed significantly, in general, their understanding was still relatively low. From these findings, it can be concluded that Subak has various special lexicons, but the younger generation of Bali does not understand these lexicons well.