PESAN SIMBOLIK NASI LAMAK DALAM TRADISI SELAMATAN WARUNG BAGI PERANTAU MINANG: Studi Kasus pada Organisasi Perantauan Himpunan Masyarakat Toboh Gadang dan Sekitar (HIMATOS)

Ayu Lestari. The Symbolic Message of Nasi Lamak in the Selamatan Warung Tradition among Minang Migrants: A Case Study of the Himpunan Masyarakat Toboh Gadang dan Sekitar (HIMATOS) Organization. Undergraduate Thesis, Communication Studies Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, 2026.

This study examines how the symbolic meaning of nasi lamak is constructed and interpreted through social interaction in the selamatan warung tradition within the Minang migrant community of HIMATOS Malang. A qualitative approach with a case study design was employed, data were collected through in-depth interviews with five informants selected using purposive sampling, and analyzed using Herbert Blumer's Symbolic Interactionism Theory through pattern matching technique.

Findings indicate that nasi lamak operates as a symbolic object that simultaneously conveys three layers of meaning: blessing, kinship bonds, and Minang cultural identity. These meanings are constructed through five stages: the formation of initial meaning based on each member's self, the exchange of messages through symbolic actions in the procession that integrates Minangkabau customary values and Islamic teachings, the emergence of collective agreement manifested as shared action despite differing individual meanings, the formation of agreement regarding shifts in traditional forms as new meanings accepted by the community through repeated interaction, and the influence of such agreement on the community across social, cultural, religious, and economic dimensions. Shifts in expressive form such as replacing banana leaf wrapping with paper packaging are implicitly accepted by the community, while shifts in the substance of the object still generate tension and are perceived as affecting the meanings being communicated.