Iwan Fals’ Social Criticism during the New Order Era and Power Relations in President Prabowo’s Government

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the linguistic and discursive strategies in four songs by Iwan Fals: Ujung Aspal Pondok Gede, Kuda Lumping, Sumbang, and Asyik Nggak Asyik, as well as their interconnected representations of social inequality and power relations. This study employs a descriptive qualitative approach using Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis, which encompasses the dimensions of text, discursive practice, and sociocultural practice, alongside Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony. The data consist of relevant lyrical units analyzed comparatively. The findings reveal that the four songs address interconnected issues, including the loss of living spaces, cultural marginalization, socio-ecological inequality, and political interests. These issues are expressed through metaphors, irony, personification, cultural symbols, repetition, satire, and rhetorical questions. Overall, the songs construct a critique of unequal power relations. From Gramsci’s perspective, this critique can be interpreted as a counter-hegemonic discourse. Iwan Fals’s works also provide a critical lens for examining contemporary power relations in Indonesia without equating the political contexts of the New Order and the present.