ORAL TRADITION IN CHILDREN’S TRADITIONAL GAMES IN LEBAK, BANTEN: FUNCTIONS, VALUES, AND CULTURAL CONTINUITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24191/jca.v3i2.14451Keywords:
traditional games, oral tradition, Sunda Banten, ethnography, functionalism, cultural continuityAbstract
Children’s traditional games in Lebak Regency are still learned through songs, rhymes, movement, and participation, but the conditions that sustain this oral transmission are uneven. This ethnographic study examines how oral elements operate within four games (Oray-orayan, Cingciripit, Prepet Jengkol, and Pacici-cici Putri) and how these practices carry values and local knowledge. Fieldwork was conducted from March to August 2024 in five locations in Lebak, Banten, with 34 participants comprising children, parents, traditional leaders, and teachers or trainers. The material consisted of approximately twenty play-observation sessions, six additional school-break observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Thematic analysis identified three recurring functions. Oral elements supported learning by embedding attention, vocabulary, rules, and locally situated messages within play; they coordinated social participation by regulating turns, rhythm, and collective movement; and they kept Sundanese words and agrarian references in circulation. The data also show a distinction between performance continuity and semantic continuity: some children could reproduce older lyrics without understanding particular words, while others moved between Sundanese and Indonesian during play. Digital entertainment, reduced play space, and weaker intergenerational transmission affected opportunities for regular participation. Malinowski’s functionalism helps identify what these practices do in social life, but the Lebak material also shows that those functions depend on continued performance and can change when the conditions of play change. The study therefore treats oral tradition as an enacted part of the game rather than as verbal content attached to it. Access in Kanekes (Baduy) was limited, so that material is treated as a limited case study; the findings suggest that regular occasions for play matter more than archiving lyrics alone.
References
Abdull Rahman, Z. S., Ismail, N., Nehe, B. M., Ramli, A., Ahmad, A. H. H. H., & Abdull Rahman, N. L. (2025). Safeguarding the cultural heritage of traditional games among Malaysian and Indonesian youth. Journal of the Balkan Tribological Association, 31(4), 628–635.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Chepa, N., & Wan Yahaya, W. A. J. (2017). Reality and challenges of Malaysian digital traditional games. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology, 12(Special Issue), 209–218.
Danandjaja, J. (1986). Folklor Indonesia: Ilmu gosip, dongeng, dan lain-lain. Grafiti Pers.
Finnegan, R. (1992). Oral traditions and the verbal arts: A guide to research practices. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203393215
Iwandana, D. T., Falaahudin, A., & Nugroho, W. A. (2021). Sport values in traditional games as playing activities for children. TEGAR: Journal of Teaching Physical Education in Elementary School, 4(2), 96–100. https://doi.org/10.17509/tegar.v4i2.33798
Malinowski, B. (1944). A scientific theory of culture and other essays. University of North Carolina Press.
Muliadi, E., & Asyari, A. (2024). Menggali kearifan lokal: Pendidikan nilai dalam permainan tradisional suku Sasak. Jurnal Ilmiah Profesi Pendidikan, 9(1), 129–140. https://doi.org/10.29303/jipp.v9i1.1922
Oh, H. K., & Mat Nayan, S. (2019). Jom Main! (Let’s play!): Promoting the values of Malaysia traditional children’s games through the media. Media Literacy and Academic Research, 2(2), 52–83.
Purnami, I. A. P. (2025). The value of local wisdom in the traditional game ngejuk capung. Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pengajaran, 58(2), 408–422. https://doi.org/10.23887/jpp.v58i2.94469
Ridho, A., Arifin, S., Dannur, M., & Rahmawati, R. K. N. (2025). Revitalization of local traditions as a medium for children’s character education in indigenous communities. Ngejha, 4(2), 50–57. https://doi.org/10.32806/nja.v4i2.837
Rusmana, N., Nur, L., Purwati, P., Mashudi, E., & Malik, A. (2022). Identification of character education values inherent to traditional games in Indonesia: A pilot study. In Innovation on education and social sciences (pp. 105–110). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003265061-14
Sari, D. A. M., & Kurniawan, D. (2024). Pentingnya pengenalan permainan tradisional dalam menanamkan nilai karakter dan budaya. JIMAD: Jurnal Ilmiah Mutiara Pendidikan, 2(1), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.61404/jimad.v2i1.182
Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Supriyanto, B., Gunawijaya, J., & Nurbaeti. (2022). Eksistensi dan keberlanjutan budaya Baduy Luar berbasis permainan tradisional. Populis: Jurnal Sosial dan Humaniora, 7(2), 316–331. https://doi.org/10.47313/pjsh.v7i2.1837
Tanucan, J. C. M. (2023). The difficulties of teaching traditional Filipino games online. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 22(3), 108–127. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.22.3.7
Vansina, J. (1985). Oral tradition as history. University of Wisconsin Press.
Zainurin, M. Z., Burhanudin, M. N. H., Salman, M. I., & Ibrahim, Z. (2024). Malaysian Traditional Game (Tradesa Melayu) Learning Application. Multidisciplinary Applied Research and Innovation, 5(1), 232–238. https://doi.org/10.30880/mari.2024.05.01.032
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 ADC Aryadi, Zainatul Shuhaida Abdull Rahman, Arwin Ramli
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
