THE ARCHIVIST’S SILENCE: A SPECULATIVE NOVELLA ON INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY AND INDIVIDUAL RESISTANCE UNDER THE CORE

Oleh :
Muhammad Reza Nova Fahrizi - B0322049 - Fak. Ilmu Budaya

Muhammad Reza Nova Fahrizi. B0322049. The Archivist’s Silence: A Speculative Novella On Institutional Memory and Individual Resistance Under the Core. English Department. Faculty of Cultural Sciences. Universitas Sebelas Maret. Surakarta. This thesis is a project that describes how institutional control and technological surveillance are able to suppress human agency within a speculative novella entitled The Quiet Fall. The main trigger in writing this story is the contemporary issue regarding our increasing dependence on invisible algorithms and the loss of individual curiosity. The issues that arise stem from a central concern: that society is trading its freedom for the sake of manufactured comfort. This novella was created with the aim of raising awareness about the dangers of total systemic stability and its impact on the human spirit. Figures such as Michel Foucault, Shoshana Zuboff, Darko Suvin, and others helped me understand and portray the subject matter through their theories. By using a "Grounded Speculative Realism" style, this project offers a direct and simplified approach to a complex future reality. This novella also explores how emotions are suppressed through a sterile environment and a controlled narrative. The emotional depth of the characters is expressed through internal monologues and a grounded prose style that makes the setting feel like a tangible, physical place. By using the methods of self-observation, self-reflection, and a review of dystopian literature as the substance of knowledge, this novella answers questions related to how a perfect system can alienate a person from their original self. The story tells the journey of Lira, an Archivist living in an environment that demands total compliance. While she begins to question the system, she is confronted by the absolute logic of the Core which seeks to maintain order at any cost. As the story progresses, Lira feels her agency slipping away as she discovers that the system is not a protector but a silent jailer. In the end, Lira’s humanity is unable to fight a system that is so great and so strong, leading to a circular ending where her curiosity is finally extinguished.