ISU LAMPOR : PERSEPSI KEMATIAN DAN KEBANGKITAN LEGENDA URBAN DI MASA PANDEMI COVID-19 (LAMPOR ISSUE: PERCEPTION OF DEATH AND THE RISE OF URBAN LEGEND IN THE AGE OF COVID-19)

ABSTRAK Tulisan ini menggunakan enam kriteria legenda urban menurut J.H. Brunvard untuk menjelaskan bagaimana legenda urban kembali dibahas pada saat pandemi covid-19 sedang berlangsung. Dengan mengambil kasus teror lampor di Malang, Jawa Timur pada pertengahan juli 2021, penulis menggunakan metode digital etnografi untuk menjawab pertanyaan: Bagaimana teror lampor dikaitkan dengan bencana COVID-19 dan kematian? Bagaimana konteks sosial yang melingkupi Malang khususnya, dan Jawa pada umumnya ketika berita lampor menjadi viral? Sejauh mana teknologi informasi dan Internet berperan dalam pembentukan wacana di balik berita tersebut dan apa relasinya dengan sejarah serta budaya di Indonesia? Selama ini, sejarah di benak masyarakat sering dikaitkan dengan upaya heroik, suci dan ksatria dalam mempertahankan Nusantara dari berbagai gangguan, baik fisik, sosial, ekonomi dan politik. Peristiwa bersejarah selalu disandingkan dengan nama-nama pahlawan. Sebaliknya, ancaman, gangguan dan kengerian itu sendiri justru jarang mendapatkan perhatian, salah satunya adalah teror setan. Padahal, dalam pewayangan Jawa, memori tentang setan terekam dengan detail dalam kelompok Pasetran Gandhamayit. Media sosial mempercepat penyebaran informasi bahwa di era digital ini masih terdapat ancaman mistis dan relasinya dengan kematian. Kemunculan teror lampor atau keranda terbang sempat membuat masyarakat Malang mengurangi mobilitasnya terutama di malam hari. Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa legenda urban mampu “memunculkan ketakutan” dan “mengendalikan situasi secara laten” tanpa harus melalui statistik angka kematian akibat COVID-19 yang semakin hari mengalami peningkatan. Reaksi masyarakat Indonesia khususnya masyarakat Jawa terhadap teror lampor menunjukkan ingatan kolektif masa lalu tentang wabah dan bagaimana cara mereka mengelola ketakutan terhadap kematian di era digital ini. Kata kunci : Lampor, Legenda Urban, Internet, Kematian, COVID-19 ABSTRACT This paper uses six criteria of urban legend according to J.H. Brunvard to explain how urban legends are being discussed again during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. By taking the Lampor Case in Malang, in mid-July 2021, the author uses a digital ethnographic method to answer the question: How is the Lampor terror associated with the Covid-19 disaster and death? What is the social context that surrounds Malang in particular, and Java in general when this report is rising? To what extent does internet and information technology taking role in construct the discourse behind the news and how does it relate to history and culture in Indonesia? So far, people thought about history is often associated with heroic, sacred and chivalrous efforts in defending the Archipelago from various disturbances, both physical, social, economy, politic and so on. Historical events are always juxtaposed with the names of heroes. On the other hand, threats, distractions and horrors themselves are rarely get attention, one of which is the devil's terror. In fact, in Javanese wayang, the memory of the devil is clearly recorded as Pasetran Gandhamayit. Social media accelerates the spread of information that in this digital era, mystical threats is still existing, and how their relation to death. This Lampor Issue had made the people of Malang reduce their mobility, especially at night. This condition shows that urban legends are able to “raise fear” and “control the situation latently” without having to go through statistics on the death rate due to Covid-19 which is increasing day by day. The reaction of the Indonesian people, especially the Javanese people to the terror of lampor shows how they preserves collective memories of the plague and how they manage their fear of death in this digital era. Key words : Lampor, Urban Legend, Internet, Death, COVID-19