Contesting the Meaning of Sound Horeg Culture in the Community of Jember Regency: A Perspective of Social Change and Collective Identity Construction

Abstract

This study examines the contestation of the cultural meaning of “sound horeg” in the community of Jember Regency through the perspectives of social change and collective identity construction. Using Herbert Blumer’s symbolic interactionism and Anthony Giddens’s theory of structuration as theoretical frameworks, this study aims to understand how the meaning of “sound horeg” is negotiated over time and how this cultural practice shapes and reproduces the community’s collective identity. The method used is descriptive qualitative research, with data collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentary analysis. The results indicate that the meaning of “sound horeg” has shifted from merely serving as a sound amplification device in traditional ceremonies to becoming a symbol of identity expression, a medium for emotional release, an arena for social status competition, and simultaneously an object of moral controversy and regulation. From a social change perspective, “sound horeg” reflects the structure-agency duality, in which community practices both reproduce and transform the existing social order. The contestation of meaning that occurs reflects the dynamics of power in defining “legitimate” culture in Jember’s public sphere.