Universitas Indonesia Conferences, The 8th International Symposium of Journal Antropologi Indonesia

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How did Rumors Transform Into Knowledge and Action? Anthropological Study on Covid-19 in Maluku
Ode Zulkarnain sahji Tihurua

Last modified: 2022-05-31

Abstract


There have not been a lot of anthropological studies conducted on rumors circulating in Indonesian Communities in response to Covid-19. This is despite the fact that rumor has played a very important and problematic role across the globe as a response to Covid-19. This article attempts to unravel the complexities behind the process of transforming rumors into knowledge and action. By taking the research location in Maluku, this article will show how rumors work on the people of Maluku and make their response to covid-19. Following Rudyansjah's view of “Cultural Landscapes” and the concept of “collective memory” from Feldman-Savelsberg, Ndonko, & Song Yang, the author wants to show the cultural frame of the complexity of the rumor transformation process. Does this article start with why people in Maluku easily accept rumors and influence their actions in responding to COVID-19? The findings of this article show that the acceptance of rumors or the process of transforming rumors into knowledge has many backgrounds. Starting from the cultural, social, economic, and even political. Rumors are accepted as encouraging the emergence of various actions or what the author calls 'transformation from knowledge into action', including spreading rumors; do not believe in the existence of covid-19; do not want to vaccinate against covid-19, and do not believe in the authority of power. With the concept of the cultural landscape and collective memory, this article also explores the historicity of rumors in order to explain the complexity of the rumor transformation process. In the process of transforming rumors, there is continuity with what was in the past.

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