MEDIATING COLONIAL MEMORY: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF INDONESIAN STUDENTS’ IDENTITY NEGOTIATION THROUGH ENGLISH- SUBTITLED BUMI MANUSIA

Audah, Thoriq (2026) MEDIATING COLONIAL MEMORY: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF INDONESIAN STUDENTS’ IDENTITY NEGOTIATION THROUGH ENGLISH- SUBTITLED BUMI MANUSIA. Diploma thesis, IKIP PGRI BOJONEGORO.

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Abstract

Audah, Thoriq. 2026. From Mediating Colonial Memory: An Ethnograpgy Of Indonesian Students’ Identity Negotiation Through English-Subtitled Bumi Manusia Undergraduate Thesis, English Education Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts Education, IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro. Advisors: (I) Dr. Refi Ranto Rozak, M.Pd. (II) Meiga Ratih Tirtanawati, M.Pd. Keywords: Keywords: decolonial pedagogy, English subtitles, Bumi Manusia, national identity, English learner identity, collaborative negotiation, postcolonial Indonesia This research is motivated by the tension between English as a global tool and its embedded colonial legacy, particularly among pre-service English teachers in Indonesia, using the film Bumi Manusia (2019) as a medium that presents Dutch colonial narratives visually and dialogically yet is accessed through English subtitles that potentially filter meaning, thus this study aims to examine how members of the United English Club (UEC) at IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro collaboratively negotiate discourses of colonialism and resistance in the film and how this negotiation process influences their national identity and identity as English language learners. Employing an ethnographic approach involving six core participants through observation, three Focus Group Discussions, reflective journals, and field notes, along with thematic analysis grounded in postcolonial theory, cultural memory studies, audiovisual translation studies, and sociocultural theory, this study reveals four key findings: English subtitles function as both a bridge and a barrier—what participants termed the "80-20 rule"; participants relocated the antagonist from individual Dutch figures to the colonial legal system, identifying "bureaucratic evil" and the "education trap"; resistance was redefined beyond armed struggle to include writing, strategic nativism, quiet survival, and constrained agency; and fire and cinematic semiotics became polysemic collective symbols of purification, truth, and the machinery of power, which in turn transformed national identity from textbook-based narratives toward critical ownership and English learner identity from pursuing native-like perfection toward critical effectiveness with a rejection of native-speakerism. This study concludes that collaborative and critical discussion of Bumi Manusia with English subtitles functions as a decolonial pedagogy that enables students to renegotiate historical memory and contemporary postcolonial identity, while contributing to postcolonial media studies, audiovisual translation studies, language learner identity theory, and Indonesian cultural studies, as well as offering practical implications for English language teaching, teacher education, curriculum design, university club management, and student self-directed learning.

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