FEMALE STRUGGLE AND SOCIAL SIGNS: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF THE BALINESE SHORT STORY “MALAIB SUTRISNI! MALAIB!” BY KOMANG ADNYANA

Abstrak

This study examines the representation of female struggle in the Balinese short story “Malaib Sutrisni! Malaib!” through a semiotic perspective. The aims of this study are (1) to identify the social signs that represent female struggle in the narrative and (2) to interpret the meanings conveyed through these signs within the socio-cultural context of Balinese society. The study employs Barthes’ semiotic framework to analyze significant signs in the text, including characterization, dialogue, and narrative situations that reflect social pressures and gender expectations. The analysis reveals that the protagonist’s experiences symbolize broader social tensions related to gender roles, family expectations, and cultural norms. These narrative elements function not only as components of the story but also as signs that convey deeper ideological meanings about the position of women within a patriarchal social structure. The findings demonstrate that the short story represents female struggle through symbolic representations of social constraints and emotional conflict. This study highlights how Balinese modern literature encodes social realities and cultural values through semiotic structures.