THE SEA, THE VOLCANO, AND THE TIGER: SOME ANIMISTIC SYMBOLS IN ORAL TRADITION AND MODERN INDONESIAN LITERATURE

Abstract

The article deals with the idea of rediscovering three basic images of Indonesian culture: the sea, the volcano and the tiger, with the help of folklore and splendid literary works of modern Indonesian writers as well. Novels by Mochtar Lubis (Harimau! Harimau! 1975), Eka Kurniawan (Lelaki Harimau, 2004), and Budi Sardjono (Sang Nyai, 2011) are taken as a source. The enriched traditional meanings of some animistic symbols appear in different light in each novel, rediscovering the layers of main plot and characters connotations in different ways of Neo-Traditionalism, Deconstruction and Remythologization. Keywords: animistic symbols, Malay and Javanese basic archetypes and tradition, modern Indonesian literature. Introduction The significant role of the mighty animistic patterns in Malay and Indonesian culture is written enough. A number of great scholars and explorers of Nusantara made ethnographical and anthropological studies about shamanism and widespread belief in spirits and ghosts. Studying the rituals and the everyday life oddities for the Western eye, R. Wessing, R.E. Jordan, N. Mulder, J.J. Ras, W.W. Skeat, K.M. Endicott and many others viewed closely upon rudimental images of ancient animism of Malay Archipelago. However, quite a small amount of scientists paid enough attention to the folklore and literature precisely focusing on its sources. Exceptions were made by specialists in Malay and Indonesian literature. W. Rassers, T.G.T. Pigeaud, B. Parnickel and V. Braginsky achieved important results in reconstructing the system of regional animistic images, which root into the undiscovered past of the Indonesian islands. For example, due to their works we can also comprehend the role of the ship image in Malay tradition and the powerful clown-figures (punokawan) of the Javanese shadow plays in theatre, oral tradition and its transformations in the modern Indonesian literature. With the developing of literature studies in Nusantara, we can continue to fill in the information gap about other images and signs, which mark the whole Indonesian culture and represent the mindset of the native people.