Humans and animal welfare in the Adventures of the Mouse-deer: an ecological discourse analysis

Abstract

The mouse-deer is a popular trickster character in Indonesian and Malaysian children’s folktales. The species was ubiquitous in Southeast Asia, but human activities have led to biodiversity loss and a decline of the mouse-deer. Popular discourses such as folktales can influence and inspire community members to protect animal welfare and biodiversity. However, the ecolinguistic analysis of the mouse-deer folktales is lacking, despite their potential. Therefore, this study aims to investigate a children’s book based on the folktales, entitled The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, using ecological discourse analysis to look at the ideology of the book and to verify whether it is consistent with environmental ethics to protect animal welfare and the ecosophy supporting the environment and biodiversity. It also answers whether the book is compatible with fostering early environmental awareness of animal welfare in children. Moreover, the study uses Fairclough’s three-dimensional discourse analysis to reveal the ideology of the discourse. The ideology of the discourse is then contrasted with environmental ethics and ecosophy. The study finds that The Adventures of the Mouse-deer is eco-ambivalent since it illustrates both exploitation of wild animals and the principles of environmental ethics and ecosophy. In conclusion, the mouse-deer folktales can serve as an environmental exposure for young children as long as the story emphasizes the struggle of wild animals due to exploitation and unethical treatments by humans. The folktale traditionally focuses on the mouse-deer’s tricks, but it can also serve a conservation purpose to protect the biodiversity and the species within it.