A Structural and Structuralist Analysis of A.A. Navis’ Robohnya Surau Kami (“The Collapse of Our Little Mosque”)

This paper offers a unified structural and structuralist analysis of A.A. Navis’ Robohnya Surau Kami, illustrating how the short story’s form and deep narrative logic convey a critique of cultural transformation and ideological disruption. Building on sociological, postcolonial, and orientalist scholarship, the paper advances the interpretation that the character Ajo Sidi symbolises Western secular rationality that undermines indigenous Minangkabau religious values. Through detailed structural examination—plot, narrative layers, character dynamics, and symbolic setting—and a structuralist reading of binary oppositions (tradition vs modernity, East vs West, faith vs pragmatism), the analysis reveals how the story encodes a deeper cultural tension. Although this reading extends beyond the short story’s historical context, it is grounded in recurring themes identified by existing scholarship, including critiques of social apathy, the decline of communal values, and ideological hegemony. Ultimately, the paper argues that Navis’ narrative, while local in setting, resonates with broader postcolonial concerns about cultural integrity in the face of hegemonic influence. Keywords: A.A. Navis, Indonesian literature, Robohnya Surau Kami, structural and structuralist analysis