Technological advances, especially in the world of social networking, can indirectly influence language use when interacting with interlocutors. Interacting via social media also uses language. Politeness in language is an important thing that speakers can use in communicating so that the person they are talking to does not feel pressured, cornered or offended. Politeness is also needed in responding to news. Thousands and even millions of news are circulating on social media. Not all of the news is true. There is also fake news or hoaxes. This fake news will target all groups, including mothers. Mothers are a group of people who are vulnerable to information. The Master of Linguistics Study Program at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, apart from teaching and developing language knowledge, is also committed to educating the public in language on social media, especially language politeness in responding to fake news. For this reason, community service activities in 2023 are focused on responding to fake news on social media in the women’s environment of Caturtunggal and Terban Districts.

Monday, 16 October 2023, the Department of Javanese Language, Literature and Culture held a public lecture seminar entitled “Brother-Sister Love in Modern Javanese Literature: A Critique for Literary Researchers”. The seminar is free and open to the public at Soegondo Auditorium, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The seminar featured a senior lecturer from the Australian National University, Dr George Quinn. Rudy Wiratama, S.I.P., M.A., lecturer of Javanese Language, Literature and Culture Study Programme, Universitas Gadjah Mada also attended the seminar as moderator.

As the opening speaker, Dr George Quinn shared his educational background and his experience when he studied at Universitas Gadjah Mada. Dr George Quinn continued his presentation by discussing Javanese novels, including “Puspitasari”, “Truntum” by Siti Aminah, and “Kinanti” by Margareth Widhy Pratiwi.

In this presentation, Quinn interprets Javanese romance novels containing incestuous marriages or marriages performed by couples who have family or kinship ties from the point of view of Javanese literature. The first interpretation is that Javanese society has a perspective that the ideal love relationship between husband and wife is like the sincere love of brother and sister. Therefore, we may often hear in Javanese areas a wife calling her husband as mas, and a husband will call his wife as dik. The second interpretation is that this incestuous relationship is already owned by the ancient mythical story of the love story of Dewi Sri and Sedhana. There is also the story of Prabu Watugunung in Babad Tanah Jawi and the story of Sangkuriang from West Java.

So why do ancient myths with incest elements play a role in the development of Modern Javanese literature? It seems that these ancient stories have become a collective memory in modern times. This makes stories about romance in kinship continue to be reproduced. Apart from being fictitious stories that aim to entertain, these incestuous stories also serve as a medium to learn that incestuous relationships are something that should be avoided. The moral message is easier to understand when it is packaged in the form of myths and stories.

This seminar was nicely packaged. The topic chosen was very interesting. The audience followed the seminar carefully. The seminar was closed with a question and answer session. Hopefully this seminar can be a reflective medium for us and Javanese literature continues to develop in this modern era.

In December 2022, Kapalasastra as one of the semi-autonomous bodies (BSO) in the field of nature lovers has successfully conducted basic education for its new members. A series of basic education activities (diksar) carried out include understanding and basic practices of rock climbing, caving, rafting, and mountain-forest. In accordance with the principle of kinship owned by Kapalasastra for generations, all activities were carried out without any element of violence or yelling.

In January, the mountain-forest diksar took place on the slopes of Mount Ungaran and was held for five days. In this activity, teaching was given about the practice of Map and Compass Field Science (IMPK), Emergency First Aid (PPGD), Search and Rescue (SAR), and training survival skills. In the following month, a rafting or swift current sports course (ORAD) was organised. The Elo River was the chosen place with the calculation of the river’s moderate safety level and moderate rainfall as well.

The next agenda was rock climbing in March. Rock climbing was held on the cliffs of Siung Beach. Not only the material space and climbing practice, participants were also introduced to the shapes of corals that form the layers of the cliff. They were given the opportunity to walk around the cliffs and observe the morphology of each side of the cliff.

Finally, a caving course was held in Purworejo. There are two forms of caves that must be explored, namely vertical and horizontal caves. The horizontal cave chosen was Sikantong Cave. This cave has a track length of 1.5 KM and has a river flowing in it. Furthermore, the vertical cave chosen is Sibodak Cave. This cave has a depth of about 25 metres. Participants learnt and observed stalactites and stalagmites, the structure of the cave, the biota in it, and the science of cave photography. The whole series of diksar was then closed with an inauguration at Parangkusumo Beach as well as running a beach clean agenda.

In October this year 2023, Kapalasastra again held the basic education. The hope is that this basic education is able to provide learning and good practices to get to know nature more closely, become a forum for channeling talent interests, and alleviate the negative image of nature lovers. Kapalasastra; love nature, love life, without forgetting the greatness of God!

Who doesn’t know sawer? Yes! The ancient culture of the archipelago in which the audience shares money with the performer for the entertainment provided. Apparently, this activity is still often practiced and thanks to the inevitability of digitalisation, a new variant of online sawer has emerged, utilising the commodification of social media features as the most affordable communication medium for all. One such application is in the form of gift live streams on the TikTok platform.

The new features pioneered by TikTok make it a platform that is loved by a wide audience. Unlike Youtube which relies on income from advertisements or Instagram from product endorsements, content creators on TikTok can get ‘paid’ directly from gifts given by the audience. Indonesia alone is second with 99.07 million active TikTok users with an average time of 23.1 hours per month (Statista, 2022). It is not surprising that people often utilise the TikTok platform to earn income through its various contents. Content that sells sadness and compassion such as mud baths, bribing babies with food, parents as visualisation streamers, and many more can earn hundreds of thousands to millions of rupiah.

The Student Creativity Programme (PKM) became a bridge for UGM students to research this phenomenon. Departing from the unrest over the normalisation of TikTok live stream content that absorbs sympathy into a source of wealth, this social humanities research is coordinated by Bulan Churniati (English Literature, 2021) with multidisciplinary personnel from various backgrounds, namely Zahra Hafizha Rahma (Communication Science, 2021), Regan Alim Tsaqif (Psychology, 2022), Aisyah Azka (Geography, 2020), and Faruq Saifudin Nurrohman (Animal Husbandry, 2021) and Syaifa Tania, S.I.P., M.A. as an accompanying lecturer. The primary data collection process in this study was through a survey with 401 people. Then based on the heterogeneity of the answers, 5 people were selected to take part in offline Focus Group Discussions and 3 online interviews to adjust the distribution.

Online sawer behaviour through the gift feature on the TikTok platform is one form of gift giving behavior that develops on social media and is an important part of this research which is interesting to study and analyse in relation to other phenomena found in this behaviour. The aspects studied in this research regarding gift giving behaviour include orientation, bonding value, and generalised reciprocity. Regarding the orientation aspect, 303 respondents gave gifts according to their wishes as viewers of “sawer online” live streaming content. This is in line with respondents’ answers regarding the equivalence of gifts given with the actions of live streamers, the majority or 258 respondents answered commensurate. Self-directed gift giving behaviour can be based on the thought that it will be commensurate with the actions of the live streamer. In the end, it can be concluded that live stream content should be gifted if it can entertain, have an impact on the giver, and the content is something that is worth gifting with or without a request from viewers.

The research that was conducted did not only stop at the act of searching, but also spreading what needed to be spread – understanding the public about this phenomenon. Therefore, the PKM RSH Sawer Online team also has various social media that contain education and recommendations for the public to sort out their watching. Hopefully, after this programme is completed, there will be many other programmes that are influenced to invite the public to be perception literate.

On Tuesday, October 10th, 2023, the Faculty of Humanities at Universitas Gadjah Mada and Universitas Brawijaya jointly organized a seminar titled “Recent Linguistic Studies in Indonesia,” which was attended by participants from various backgrounds, including academics, researchers, and the general public interested in language studies.

The seminar featured three prominent speakers, who are experts in the field of linguistics. Firstly, Professor Dr I Dewa Putu Wijana, S.U., M.A, a linguistics lecturer at Gadjah Mada University, delivered an engaging speech titled “English Structured Shop Named Used in Indonesia”. He emphasized that the naming of something always affects its structure and highlighted the strong influence of English on the language used in Indonesia.

The second speaker, Ika Nurhayani, Ph.D, a lecturer at Brawijaya University, presented a talk on “Ecolinguistics in Indonesian Folklore”. She drew attention to the Sarina Sea Octopus from Maluku and the ecosophy ideology, which advocates for respect and care for all living things, beyond just humans. She highlighted the need for humans to change their habits and values to protect the environment from harm.

Finally, Dr. Sajarwa, M.Hum, a lecturer at Gadjah Mada University, delivered a speech titled “Referential Transformation of French Definite and Indefinite Articles in Indonesian Translation”. He discussed the challenges of translating messages from the source language to the target language and the importance of preserving the original message’s meaning in the translation process.

The seminar was part of the Linguistic Forum’s efforts to introduce and discuss the latest developments in the field of linguistics in Indonesia, both in terms of theory and application. The event aimed to provide insights and inspiration for language enthusiasts and practitioners in Indonesia and foster cooperation and collaboration between the various parties involved in language studies.

In conclusion, the seminar was a great success, and attendees appreciated the speakers’ insights and expertise. The seminar will surely contribute to the advancement of linguistic studies in Indonesia and inspire researchers and enthusiasts alike to continue exploring the vast and exciting field of linguistics.