DIGITALIZATION OF ORAL TRADITION: DECONSTRUCTION OF JAVANESE PROVERBS IN THE MENDOAN PODCAST AS A LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Abstract

The transformation of digital media has changed the way regional languages ​​are produced, distributed, and passed down to the younger generation. One form of this adaptation is seen in the use of Javanese proverbs in podcasts, which are no longer delivered conventionally, but recontextualized through humor and popular language. This study aims to analyze the process of recontextualization of Javanese proverbs in the Mendoan podcast, identify the discursive strategies used in the linguistic adaptation process, and explain the role of podcasts as a new social ecology in the revitalization of the Javanese language. The study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with the paradigm of Haugen's Ecolinguistics and Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis. The research data consists of transcripts of the Pekatah Jawa Katakan episode on the Mendoan podcast and audience comments on the YouTube channel, which are analyzed through the dimensions of text, discursive practices, and social practices. The results show that Javanese proverbs have undergone recontextualization through changes in lexical elements, wordplay, code switching, the Suroboyoan Javanese dialect, and the use of popular vocabulary that represents the social reality of the younger generation. Humor functions as a linguistic adaptation mechanism that bridges traditional values ​​with contemporary social experiences, thus encouraging audience involvement in reinterpreting the meaning of proverbs. From an Ecolinguistic perspective, podcasts develop as a new social ecology that allows Javanese to continue to be used, interpreted, and passed down in the digital communication space. This study offers a Conceptual Model of Digital Oral Traditions that explains that language revitalization occurs through a process of recontextualization of oral traditions, mediated by humor, strengthened through audience participation, and culminating in the formation of language vitality in the digital ecology. This finding expands ecolinguistic studies and critical discourse analysis by showing that language revitalization does not occur directly through digital media, but rather through linguistic adaptation mechanisms that keep oral traditions relevant to the younger generation.