The Doctrine of the Devil in the Midst of Feudalism: A Literary Sociology of Reymond William in Serat Jiljalaha

Abstract

Serat Jiljalaha is an anomalous 19th-century Javanese text written in tembang macapat, from Dhandhanggula to Mijil. It presents Kyai Jajalanat (King of Satan) from Mount Candisewu delivering immoral teachings on usury, adultery, opium, gambling, and robbery. Through value reversal and religious parody, Jiljalaha offers a sharp critique of the colonial-feudal order, exposing how priyayi, ulama, and the colonial government reproduced structural violence, exploitation, and immorality despite claiming moral authority. Using Raymond Williams’ sociology of literature and a qualitative method based on the 1938 Yayasan Sastra Lestari transliteration, this study interprets the text through dominant, residual, and emergent cultures. It asks how Jiljalaha critiques dominant religious morality and how residual pre-Islamic Javanese elements and emergent satire expose social contradictions. The findings show that Jiljalaha is not merely a parody but a form of symbolic resistance that employs inversion as criticism. It reveals the performative morality of colonial power and the ethical crisis experienced by society, capturing the structure of feeling of 19th-century Java as an order in decline without a clear replacement. Sociologically, Jiljalaha emerges as a counter-lesson to conventional didactic serat