LEGITIMASI NARATIF KEPEMIMPINAN MITOLOGIS DALAM CERITA RAKYAT TOLAKI: STRUKTUR KEPAHLAWANAN DAN PEMBENTUKAN OTORITAS SIMBOLIK

Marwati Marwati (Universitas Haluoleo Kendari)
Nensilianti Nensilianti (Universitas Negeri Makassar)
Sitti Agustina (Universitas Haluoleo Kendari)

INDONESIA: Jurnal Pembelajaran Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia
Volume 7 Number 3 October 2026

olktales not only represent heroism but also construct symbolic mechanisms through which heroic action is transformed into legitimately recognized authority. This study examines the structure of heroism, the legitimation of mythological leadership, and variations in the construction of authority across three Tolaki folktales documented in Ceritera Daerah Sulawesi Tenggara (1983/1984): Tebaununggu and Sangia Maradapo from Kendari and Wulele Sawurondo from Kolaka. All three were originally narrated in Tolaki and subsequently translated into Indonesian. Employing a qualitative narrative-comparative approach, this study combines close reading with the systematic coding of dialogue, character actions, and event sequences. The analysis integrates Propp’s narrative morphology, Weber’s theory of legitimacy, and Bascom’s folklore functions. The findings identify three patterns of legitimation, characterized by distinct mechanisms of recognition and forms of authority. Tebaununggu constructs restorative legitimation through a reputation for supernatural power, heroic action, genealogical recognition, and restoration of social order, culminating in shared governance. Sangia Maradapo constructs transformative-institutional legitimation through education, protective action, social recognition, marriage, and the transfer of governing rights and responsibilities. Wulele Sawurondo constructs protective-cosmological legitimation through moral evaluation, religiosity, supernatural power, and protection without culminating in formal political sovereignty. Across the three texts, supernatural power and heroic action function as potential legitimating resources that become legitimate authorities through moral justification, social recognition, genealogical integration, or institutional endorsement. This study proposes a Narrative Legitimation Model of Mythological Leadership comprising six analytical components: crisis, activation of capacity, heroic action, moral evaluation, recognition, and socio-cosmological integration. The model demonstrates that heroism, legitimacy, and political sovereignty are interrelated yet analytically distinct dimensions in the construction of authority within traditional narratives.