Sang Kancil as Cultural Artefact: A Comparative Neo-Archetypal Study

Christopher Quah Wai Kheong, Anita Harris Satkunananthan, Shahizah Ismail Hamdan

Abstract


This article is a comparative study of Sang Kancil, the Malaysian folkloric trickster character with Brer Rabbit (African-American) and Reynard the Fox (French and Dutch) in order to explain the relationship between the Jungian archetypes and Neo-archetypes that may be found in trickster tales found in the printed medium. An analysis of the Sang Kancil stories was conducted by comparing them to these Trickster stories from other cultures to identify the similarities in the trope of the trickster to determine the ways in which Trickster tales have been used to convey messages of resistance against injustice and impart moral lessons, as well as pointing out the importance of intelligence and wit to solve problems. To limit the corpus due to the countless different Trickster tales around the world, we have only used these two animal tricksters who are the most congruent with Sang Kancil. Following from this, the article examines the commonalities in the neo-archetypal elements present in all of the studied tale types which correspond to the ways in which these tricksters are Andersonian cultural artefacts in the cultural imaginary, disseminated through both oral and print mediums. This is due to the well-documented and widespread sources of print literature on both Brer Rabbit and Reynard the Fox. By studying the commonalities of the tales through the archetypal elements present, Sang Kancil may be determined to be an Andersonian cultural artefact in the cultural imagination.


Keywords


Malay Folktales; Tricksters; Neo-archetypes; Cultural Artefacts; Imagined Communities; Print Culture

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ahmad, A. (2015). Taubat Si Tanggang. Selangor: Maple Publishers.

Ahmad, A. (2018). Taubat Si Tanggang: Buku 2. Selangor: Maple Publishers.

Baker, M. P. (1994). The Rabbit as Trickster. The Journal of Popular Culture. 28(2).

Berezkin, Y. (1994). “Three Tricksters: World Distribution of Zoomorphic Protagonists in Folklore Tales”. Scala Naturae.

Bottigheimer, R. (2004). The International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature. New York: Routledge.

Carpenter, K. (1992). Kancil: From Mischief to Moral Education. Oregon: University of Oregon P.

Degges-White & Kevin, S. (2015). “Archetypal Identity Development, Meaning in Life, and Life Satisfaction: Differences among Clinical Mental

Health Counselors, School Counselors, and Counselor Educators”. Adultspan Journal. 14(1), 49-61.

Faber, M. A. & John, D. Mayer. (2009). “Resonance to archetypes in media: There's some accounting for taste". Journal of Research in Personality. 43, 307-322.

Gomez, E. H. & Walter, W. S. (2012). Malaysian Fables, Folk Tales and Legends. Kuala Lumpur: Silverfish Books.

Guerin, W. L. (2005). A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. Oxford: OUP.

Guerber, H. A. (2004). Legends of the Middle Ages. Project Gutenberg.

Guenther, M. G. (2002). “The Bushman Trickster: Protagonist, Divinity, and Agent of Creativity”. Marvels & Tales. 16(1), 13-28.

Harris, J.C. (1880). Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings. New York: D. Appleton and Company.

---. (1881). Nights with Uncle Remus. New York: D. Appleton and Company.

---. (1881). Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit. New York: D. Appleton and Company

Harris, J. (2018).“Grandfather Rat”. Marvels & Tales. 32(1), 155-160.

Jung, G. C. (1968). Man and his Symbols. New York: Dell Publishing Co.

---. (1971). Four Archetypes: Mother / Rebirth / Spirit / Trickster. New York: Dell Publishing Co.

Jurich, M. (‎1999). The Female Trickster-Known as Trickstar-As Exemplified by Two American Legendary Women,“Billy” Tipton and Mother Jones.

New York: Dell Publishing Co.

Lee, D. (2011). Malaysian Tales: Retold & Remixed. Petaling Jaya: ZI Publications.

Marshall, E. Z. (2018). “’Nothing but Pleasant Memories of the Discipline of Slavery’: The Trickster and the Dynamics of Racial”. Marvels & Tales. 32(1), 59-75.

Mills, M. A. (2018). "Afghano-Persian Trickster Women: Definitions, Liminalities and Gender". Marvels & Tales. 32(1), 33-58.

Moses, D. D. (2004). “The Trickster's Laugh: My Meeting with Tomson and Lenore”. The American Indian Quarterly. 28(1&2), 107-111.

Morley, H. (1889). The History of Reynard the Fox. New York: Routledge.

Muthalib, H. A. (2007). From Mousedeer to Mouse: Malaysian Animation at The Crossroads. InterAsia Cultural Studies. 8(2), 288-297.

Parker, A. (1999). “Bogeyman: Benedict Anderson’s “Derivative” Discourse. Diacritics. 29(4), 40-57.

Parlevliet, S. (2008). “Hunting Reynard: How Reynard the Fox Tricked his way into English and Dutch Children’s Literature”. Children’s Literature in Education. 39(2), 107-120.

Pelton, R. D. (1980). The Trickster in West Africa: A Study of Mythic Irony and Sacred Delight. University of California Press.

Scheub, H. (2012). Trickster and Hero: Two Characters in the Oral and Written Traditions of the World. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Schlosser, S. E. (2004). Spooky South: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and other Local Lore. Connecticut: Globe Pequot Press.

Skeat, W. (1901). Fables, Folk Tales & Legends. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zahari, R. (2015). Sang Kancil and the Scarecrow. Kuala Lumpur: Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia.

Zahari, R. (2015). Sang Kancil in the Well. Kuala Lumpur: Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia.

Zipes, J. (2019). “Speaking the Truth with Folk and Fairy Tales: The Power of the Powerless”. Journal of American Folklore. 132(525), 243-259.

Zipes, J. (1983). Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilization. New York: Wildman Press.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/gema-2019-1904-13

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2131

ISSN : 1675-8021