THE PRINCIPLE OF PRESENCE IN MANA SIKANA’S REALISM SHORT STORIES

A prolific author will always stive to bring innovation to elevate their created texts to a level of excellence through the presence of various sources and ideas. As a writer labelled as prolific in this country, Mana Sikana reveals that the presence of new and innovative sources of ideas is very important, especially in bringing renewal to the texts produced. Therefore, this paper is produced to examine the principle of presence in three realist short stories by Mana Sikana from the perspective of the Textualism theory. The quality of a writer’s authorship is measured using four principles in the Textdealisme theory. Only one principle, named the principle of presence, was applied in this study to analyze the short stories Daun-daun Keramat (1975), Kawan yang Berbudi dan Berduri (1964) and Petualang Bangsa (1983). In this study, a qualitative design was used, specifically text and literature analysis methods. The analysis of the three texts found that Mana Sikana consistently makes reforms and innovations in line with efforts to create a diverse range of new ideas through personal experiences, current issues and research. Through the examination of the three texts, it shows innovation in terms of sources of ideas, structure and flow. From the structural aspect, its creation has undergone changes while maintaining certain structures. The aspect of style also shows innovation in the portrayal of the realism movement. Its impact is that all the innovations and enhancements made to each of its texts over time aim to achieve a level of excellence and can serve as a catalyst for other writers to continuously bring innovation to their produced works.