The Change of Manggaraian Clothing: A Historical and Semiotic Study

One element of culture which owned by society as identity is traditional clothes. It has significant philosophical values. The phenomenon, then, raises questions to be investigated: how are the transformation forms of Manggaraian traditional clothing? Why there has been a change in Manggaraian traditional clothes? To answer those questions, a semiotic approach proposed by Saussure and then developed by Barthes has been used by the researchers. This research is a library research which is categorized as qualitative research. The method used in this research was thick description proposed by Pontoretto. Data collection were done by observation, literature study, and interviews. The result of the study shows that Manggaraian traditional costumes has been changing throughout decades. The biggest impact comes from South Sulawesi because Manggarai was under control of Gowa Kingdom until the Dutch dominated Flores island. Nevertheless, there is an adjustment with the surrounding condition namely the use of local motifs as the manifestation of Manggaraian natural condition.