Santri, who studies in Pesantren, do not only struggle with religious lessons. In the Pesantren environment, directly or indirectly, students are also familiar with education and literacy development since many of their textbooks are part of literary works. Because of that, many writers are also born in the environment of Pesantren.
Many influential writers were born from the pesantrens, such as KH Mustofa Bisri (Gus Mus), D Zawawi Imron, Emha Ainun Nadjib, Acep Zamzam Noor, Jamal D Rahman, Ahmad Tohari, Abdul Hadi WM, Hamdi Salad, Nasruddin Anshory, Kuswaidi Syafi’ie, and others.
And in this millennial era, the novelist Habiburrahman El-Shirazy appears. They are writers who have studied in Pesantren. The results of this work are generally themed on the religious values of pesantren (Tabroni, 2019: 13).
The term literature is absorption from Sanskrit, namely shaastra, which means “text containing instructions” or “guidelines”. Shaastra comes from the root word ās- or shaas- which means directing, teaching, and giving instructions. Meanwhile, tra means tools or means. That is why many books studied in Pesantren can also be referred to as part of literary works.
Thus, as the oldest educational institution in Indonesia, the learning process in Pesantren also significantly contributes to the development of literature in Indonesia. As a result, there are many kinds of literary works born from the environment of Pesantren, such as novels, poetry, short stories, dramas, and others.
In the current era, this type of literary work is increasing with the rise of social media and technology that has experienced many developments. In addition to types based on form and content; literature can also be distinguished based on where the literary work develops and lives, such as pesantren literature.