The Dukun between Traditionality and Modernity: Element of Magical Realism in Drama di Boven Digul by Kwee Tek Hoay

The study of magical realism has become a trend and popular in Indonesia since the 1990s. In its development, magical realism has been understood in various ways, from its position as a genre, narrative strategy, or theoretical framework. This article positions magical realism as a reading strategy to map magical elements in the reality of Chinese-Indonesian literary texts. Irrational cases are often found in the story segments of Chinese-Indonesian literature. This study focuses on the concept of a dukun, supernatural, and local beliefs of the Papuan in Kwee Tek Hoay's Drama di Boven Digul. The elements of magical realism in the novel have different levels. This novel is not explicitly a magical realism novel. However, the tendency of magical realism is unavoidable because the basis of the setting and production of Chinese-Indonesian literature is traditional Indonesian society. The findings of this study signify that the magical elements in the Drama in Boven Digul are based on the local beliefs of the Papuan, those are dukun, Karwar (related to the spirits of the dead and life after death), spirits, superstition, sacredness, and myths. Behind the historical reality of the 1926 PKI, the Drama in Boven Digul revealed local realities that still exist in the era of modernity.