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http://doi.org/10.332.34/SSR.23.1
Novrizal Primayudha, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Imam Santosa, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Achmad Syarief, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Haldani Destiarmand , Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Abstract
The Jami Mosque of Mentok is a dynamic semiotic space expressing Islamic–Malay identity within a postcolonial and Global South frame. Located in a nineteenth-century multiethnic port town, it reflects Arab, Chinese, Javanese, and European colonial influences in its spatial and aesthetic form. Using a qualitative interpretive method that combines ethnohistorical inquiry and visual analysis, this study draws on cultural semiotics (Lotman), Islamic aesthetics (Nasr, Burckhardt), and postcolonial visual theory (Mitchell, Bhabha). Architectural elements—the bumbung tumpang (tiered roof), fauna-inspired simbar, and floral ornamentation—are read as symbolic expressions of relational tawḥīd, localized cosmology, and Muslim Malay ethics. Findings show these forms act as a non-verbal cultural archive, tracing transformations from colonial to contemporary times. The mosque’s eclectic, dialogic aesthetic sustains local traditions while reframing Western semiotic models through Global South epistemologies in Southeast Asian heritage discourse.
Keywords: cultural semiotics, Islamic–Malay aesthetics, Jami Mosque of Mentok, postcolonial architectural discourse.