The vengeance of kuntilanak: Indonesian ghost in modern culture

Abstract

The article opens with a review of specific ghosts in the traditional folklore of the Austronesian region. This is a group of malicious ghosts sharing similar features and functions and appearing in the form of women and children who died at birth. In Indonesia the most popular ghost of this kind is kuntilanak, a ghost of a young woman with matted hair wearing a long white dress. At the very moment of recognition of her true self she turns to be an undead monster with killing intentions. The majority of folk-tales about her focus on death by childbirth or death caused by sexual violence, after which the victim transforms into kuntilanak. This image is interpreted both in tradition and modern popular culture. As the example, the paper analyses the horror film “Kuntilanak” (directed by Rizal Mantovani in 2006) from different perspectives including those of Freudo-Marxism and feminist criticism. The monster out of control is understood as an unconscious symbol of fear and personal trauma or as that of unspoken dissatisfaction with current political and ideological situation in the country. Kuntilanak as a “victim of patriarchy” is exploited by Indonesian feminists. Nowadays the avenging ghost appears to be a universal symbol of a marginalized person.