What has happened to Indonesian folktales?

By Soekanto S.A.

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Remember as a child how you burst with pride after someone praised you for being smart like Si Kancil?

That was because you knew of the little mouse deer's adventures, outwitting the farmer who caught him, the dog who kept watch over his cage, the alligator who tried to bite his leg off and the tiger who tried to devour him.

Now try telling many of today's children that they are smart as a mouse deer, and get ready for a blank stare. Of course, their response would be more animated if you told them they were as smart as, say, the Turbo Rider, or Kung Fu Boy, or one of the heroic Power Rangers, all characters they know from comic books and TV cartoons.

You may wonder what happened to Si Kancil, or other delightful characters in Indonesian folktales that were such an important part of your childhood. What about Bawang Merah dan Bawang Putih, the Indonesian version of Cinderella and the wicked stepsisters, or Swidak Loro, the ugly girl with only 62 strands of hair, who turned into a beautiful princess and married a prince because her mother kept praying for her?

Does anyone remember Joko Kendil, the tiny, plain boy born in a kendil (a rice pot), but who was miraculously changed into a handsome man and married an Egyptian princess? Or Jaka Tarub, Indonesia's own mischievous Peeping Tom?

One of the reasons why today's children are more familiar with the Power Rangers is, of course, because they are more exposed to TV than to books. Another is because the folktales are no longer in their Indonesian school textbooks, and folktales disappear fast unless they are told.

Entertaining

Fauzia Aswin Hadis, a senior psychologist at the University of Indonesia's School of Psychology, related in a discussion in Jakarta recently how her family once celebrated her grandchild's birthday by inviting a storyteller to their home.

"In my opinion, the storyteller's tales were not that special," she said. "What interested me the most was watching my grandchild sit there, very still, completely entertained, even mesmerized by the storyteller and the stories."

Fauzia was right on an important count: regardless of the stories told, storytelling is an activity that educates, conveys attention, warmth and caring, and gives a child the feeling of security. It also relaxes children and adults alike.

Fauzia said more parents should realize this "power of the word". She intends to study and compile folktales from across the country. Efforts should also be made to record traditional approaches to storytelling: for instance, kaba from the Minangkabau in West Sumatra, jemblung in Purwokerto, Central Java and kentrung in Surabaya, East Java.

The ideal situation for instilling a love of the spoken word is to have a good storyteller who knows how to relate interesting folktales, and in an interesting way. Indonesia, with its hundreds of ethnic groups, is blessed with diverse folktales from all corners of the nation.

Folktales are collective short stories of verbal literature, wrote James Danandjaya, a folklore expert at the University of Indonesia's School of Letters, wrote in his book Folklor Indonesia. Ilmu Gosip, Dongeng dan lain lain (Indonesian Folklore. The Science of Gossip, Folktales and Others; Grafiti, Press, 1991).

Unlike legends (also known as folk history) or myths, folktales are not considered to be based on truth. Folktales are also passed from generation to generation, but are told mainly for entertainment, even though they often contain lessons in morality.

Folktales, be they from Java, Germany, or Japan, usually begin with the traditional opening "Once Upon A Time", and close with "And So They Lived Happily Ever After".

Just like myths and legends, folktales, too, often have elements of tales familiar to people from different regions. This is why English-speaking children know about Cinderella, while Javanese children know about Bawang Merah dan Bawang Putih; the children in the Western world know about the tar baby and the rabbit, while Indonesians know Si Kancil.

In their 1964 book, The Types of the Folktale, Anti Aarne and Stith Thompson divided folktales into four major groups. They are a) animal tales; b) ordinary folktales; c) jokes and anecdotes; and d) formula tales. For now, we will concentrate on the first two categories.

The first category encompasses stories about the sly fox found in European countries such as England, Germany and the Netherlands. In the United States, the stories revolve around Brer Rabbit, told among those of African-American descent, the coyote among the native American Indians. Indonesians know the mouse deer, or the monkey.

The animal characters share similar traits, namely cunning and humor, always falling into traps but able to save themselves in the nick of time. They usually engage in adventures where they have to outwit their stronger, albeit more stupid, enemies such as the bear, the alligator or the tiger.

The main characters in the second category are people, usually long-suffering ones like Cinderella, or Putri Abu. These folktales are universal in nature, and are found, with slight variations here and there, in virtually all parts of the world.

Indonesians, for instance, have their own versions in Ande- Ande Lumut, Si Melati dan Si Kecubung, Bawang Merah dan Bawang Putih, and I Kesuna dan I Bawang.

Under this category fall Indonesian stories such as Wayan Bunter (the unfortunate, ugly man who had no friends but later became content because he was so kind-hearted) from Bali, I Mrereng, I Rare Sigaran, Joko Kendil (a male Cinderella, or Cinderfella?).

A variation would be in the stories about Putri Undan (the Swan Maiden), and the Frog and the Princess. Criticism abounds today about fairy-tales which often portray women as passive human beings whose ultimate happiness lies in a prince's marriage proposal. If you believe this, you can give free rein to your creativity as parents or teachers, finding or creating tales that you deem more appropriate.

There are many variations on universal "ordinary tales", including those about a boy who steals the giant's valuables, or Jack and the Beanstalk. Parents and teachers need only ferret out those old storybooks to unearth those treasures.