KALINDAQDAQ: A MEDIUM OF MANDARESE CHARACTER BUILDING

Abstract

Kalindaqdaq is a Mandar poem, an expression of feelings and thoughts through beautiful sentences, and used by the Mandar community in expressing feelings or thoughts. Kalindaqdaq involves educational values, so it is seen as a medium of education and character building by its supporting community. The formation of character is not limited to the learning process carried out in the school environment, but also involves the family environment and surrounding communities. Particularly, this study describes kalindaqdaq as one of the character building media for Mandar community, either in the school, family, or communities’ environments. To achieve the objective, the researcher applies descriptive qualitative research methods through a sociological approach. The data are kalindaqdaq which have been published from Local Literature Encyclopedia: Bugis, Makassar, Mandar, Toraja, Massenrempulu by Yasil (2017) and Mapping of Literature in West Sulawesi Province by Darmawati, et al. (2014). The study result shows that kalindaqdaq can be formulated as a medium for character building that is imprinted in ethics and aesthetics contained with some cultural values, such as belief to the God, friendship, discretion, work ethic, and love of country. These cultural values play roles in building up the character of young Mandar generation, thus they become people who are noble from early ages in the family environment into study ages in the school environment, and lastly socialize in surrounding communities.