Symbolic Violence among Young Urban People Represented in the Short Stories “Wabah”

The paper aims at discussing the discourse of symbolic violence that happened among young urban people represented in the short story entitled “Benih Jahat itu Tumbuh, Bagaimana Saya Harus Memperlakukannya?” which is included in the collection of short stories “Wabah”. The story narrates the life of four young people living in a town in the Covid-19 pandemic situation. They shared the same house harmoniously though they come from different social-cultural background. However, when the pandemic hit the town, their life changed. Each of them had to make their own decision, and this situation leads to the tragic end, because of the symbolic violence happened to them. Focusing the issue of symbolic violence, this paper applies Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and the Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence. The study reveals that symbolic violence might happen because of the different social power. Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence also emphasizes the use of language as the weapon in the violence. This kind of violence has destructive effect for the victim. In this story, the victim is Rahmad, who met his tragic end because of the violence. It is evident that symbolic violence may transform into physical violence.