Rhetorical Persuasion in the Kerinci Tauhid Manuscript: A Pentad Analysis

Abstract

Purpose − This study examines how the Kerinci Tauhid Manuscript constructs religious messages as rhetorical acts containing persuasive elements in the context of written da’wah. It also aims to identify the rhetorical purposes embedded in the manuscript, particularly through thanksgiving, confession,praise, and petition, and to examine how the narratives of the prophets contribute to the construction of persuasive religious messages.

Method − This study employs a qualitative approach within a constructivist paradigm and utilizes Kenneth Burke’s Pentad Analysis, consisting of act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. The data comprise 20 textual units consisting of prayers and religious narrativesobtained from the transliteration of the Naskah Tauhid Kerinci. The data were analyzed by identifying and categorizing each textual unit according to the five elements of Burke’s Pentad, with particular attention to the agency and purpose elements.

Findings −The findings reveal that the Kerinci Tauhid Manuscript constructs persuasive religious messages through ritual practices and religious beliefs. Of the 20 textual units analyzed, rites were more dominant (14 units) than beliefs (6 units). In terms of rhetorical purpose, thanksgiving was the most dominant category (9 units), followed by confession (7 units) and praise (4 units), while petition was not found. The narratives of the prophets consistently exhibit Burke's guilt-purification-redemption pattern, reflected in how the prophets endure suffering or trials, then perform religious rituals as a process of purification, ultimately achieving redemption in the form of salvation or inner peace. Consequently, the manuscript’s persuasive resources operate implicitly through religious practices, theexemplary conduct of the prophets, and the reinforcement of religious values; these are rhetorical functions identified from the text, not measured effects on readers.