Mapping Malaysian Rainforest Landscape in Children’s Fantasy Novel: Hamra and the Jungle of Memories by Hanna Alkaf

Abstract

Forests have long served as sites of mystery and transformation in children’s fantasy literature, functioning not only as rich natural settings but also as symbolic landscapes of personal and cultural significance. This study analyses the spatial and geographical representation of Malaysia’s tropical rainforest in Hamra and the Jungle of Memories (Alkaf, 2023) by Hanna Alkaf, examining how the rainforest operates simultaneously as a physical terrain and a metaphorical space. Through close reading and textual analysis, this research explores how geographic movement through the rainforest becomes a narrative structure that reflects psychological transformation, cultural reorientation, and mythological engagement. Framed by Tally’s literary cartography, Heidegger’s notion of existential anxiety and Bakhtin’s concept of chronotope, this study argues that cartographic anxiety acts as a catalyst for the protagonist’s emotional growth and cultural rediscovery. Each rainforest zone acts as a chronotopic node, where time and space converge to illuminate Hamra’s shifting sense of self, her encounters with mythological beings from Malay folklore, and her deepening engagement with inherited cultural memory. This study demonstrates how literary cartography functions as a metaphorical device that not only maps narrative movement but also fosters a deeper understanding of self, place, and cultural belonging. In doing so, it offers new insight into the spatial imagination of contemporary Malaysian children’s literature, highlighting its role in preserving traditional culture and positioning space as an essential medium through which young protagonists and readers navigate identity, tradition, and transformation.

Keywords: Geographical space; narration; literary cartography; anxiety; mythology