Year: 2026 | Month: July | Volume: 13 | Issue: 7 | Pages: 224-236
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260726
Customary Legitimacy of Dopofuleigho: Hokumu’s Role in Marriage Conflict Resolution in Muna and West Muna Regencies
La Aso1, Irawaty2, Haerun Ana3, Kamaluddin4, Syahbudin2, Hamuni2, Muhammad Ali Pawiro5
1Department of Language and Literature, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Halu Oleo University, Kendari, Indonesia
2Department of Civil Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Halu Oleo University, Kendari, Indonesia
3Department of Indonesian Language and Literature Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Halu Oleo University, Kendari, Indonesia
4Department of English Language Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Halu Oleo University, Kendari, Indonesia
5Faculty of Literature, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
Corresponding Author: La Aso
ABSTRACT
The practice of dopofuleigho (lit. elopement) among the Muna people in Southeast Sulawesi experiences highly contradictory legitimacy today. While some consider it an extinct and disrespectful practice, others maintain it as an economical, practical marriage mechanism. This study aims to analyze the construction, negotiation, and reproduction of this customary legitimacy by positioning the hokumu (religious-customary mediator) at the center of conflict resolution. Using a qualitative case study method, data were gathered through in-depth interviews with six key informants representing extinction, no-longer-needed, and survival narratives. The analytical framework combines van Dijk’s CDA, Moore’s LP, and Bourdieu’s S-AT. Results reveal that dopofuleigho involves an institutionalized five-stage customary resolution process: hokumu’s acceptance, polele, dengkoraghoo adhati, kafotangkano agama, and kafokawi. The hokumu serves vital state-like functions—legislative, executive, judiciary, police, and diplomatic—while specific legal conditions function as technologies of power to prevent state criminalization. The structural novelty of this research extends prior descriptive and communicative studies by demonstrating that the survival of dopofuleigho depends entirely on the hokumu’s capacity to negotiate conflicting discourses within the customary public sphere. Ultimately, this comprehensive study offers significant theoretical contributions to indigenous legal pluralism and marital norm transformation in Indonesia.
Keywords: Dopofuleigho, Hokumu, Customary legitimacy, Legal pluralism, Marriage conflict resolution, Muna tribe
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