Patriarchal Failure and Maternal Power: An Ecofeminist Reading of the Thai Folktale Pla Boo Thong
Abstract
Folktales in Thailand preserve communal values while reflecting social tensions, yet their gendered dynamics and ecological symbolism remain underexplored. This article examines the Thai folktale Pla Boo Thong (The Golden Goby) through an ecofeminist lens, addressing the gap in scholarship on how Southeast Asian oral traditions critique patriarchal institutions. Drawing on the poetic version Pla Boo Thong Klon Suad, the study employs ecofeminist close reading to investigate the tale’s representations of violence, absent fatherhood, and maternal resilience. The theoretical framework integrates key ecofeminist concepts—women–nature interdependence, patriarchal dualisms, sacred ecology, and maternal agency through reincarnation—together with sociological studies on absent fathers and domestic violence. Findings show that Pla Boo Thong constructs violence as systemic within polygamous households, critiques male passivity and failure to protect, and reimagines justice through maternal reincarnations in nature (golden goby, eggplant tree, Bodhi tree). These symbols highlight how natural and spiritual forms function as active agents of justice, offering female-centered alternatives to failed patriarchal authority. Unlike Western “Cinderella-type” narratives resolved by male intervention, this folktale positions nature and spirituality as culturally embedded sources of healing and balance. The article contributes to global ecofeminist discourse by foregrounding how Thai folklore encodes resistance, resilience, and non-patriarchal visions of authority rooted in sacred ecology and maternal continuity.
Keywords: Thai folktale; ecofeminist literary criticism; patriarchal failure; maternal reincarnation; Southeast Asian oral literature
ABSTRAK
Cerita rakyat di Thailand memelihara nilai-nilai kemasyarakatan di samping mencerminkan ketegangan sosial, namun dinamik jantina dan simbolisme ekologinya masih kurang diteroka. Artikel ini meneliti cerita rakyat Thai, Pla Boo Thong (Ikan Ketutu Emas), menerusi lensa ekofeminis bagi menangani jurang kesarjanaan tentang bagaimana tradisi lisan Asia Tenggara mengkritik institusi patriarki. Berdasarkan versi puisi Pla Boo Thong Klon Suad, kajian ini menggunakan kaedah pembacaan rapi ekofeminis untuk menyiasat representasi keganasan, ketiadaan bapa, dan daya tahan maternal dalam cerita tersebut. Kerangka teoretikal kajian menyepadukan konsep-konsep utama ekofeminis—saling kebergantungan wanita-alam, dualisme patriarki, ekologi suci, dan agensi maternal melalui penitisan atau kelahiran semula—berserta kajian sosiologi mengenai bapa yang tidak hadir dan keganasan domestik. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa Pla Boo Thong membina keganasan sebagai sesuatu yang sistemik dalam isi rumah poligami, mengkritik kepasifan lelaki serta kegagalan mereka untuk melindungi, dan membayangkan semula keadilan melalui penitisan semula ibu ke dalam alam semula jadi (ikan ketutu emas, pokok terung, pokok Bodhi). Simbol-simbol ini menyerlahkan bagaimana bentuk semula jadi dan spiritual berfungsi sebagai ejen keadilan yang aktif, menawarkan alternatif berpusatkan wanita terhadap kegagalan autoriti patriarki. Berbeza dengan naratif "jenis Cinderella" Barat yang diselesaikan melalui campur tangan lelaki, cerita rakyat ini memposisikan alam semula jadi dan spiritualiti sebagai sumber penyembuhan dan keseimbangan yang berakar umbi dalam budaya. Artikel ini menyumbang kepada wacana ekofeminis global dengan mengetengahkan bagaimana sastera rakyat Thai menyelaraskan penentangan, daya tahan, dan visi autoriti bukan patriarki yang berteraskan ekologi suci dan kesinambungan maternal.
Kata Kunci: cerita rakyat Thai; kritikan sastera ekofeminis; kegagalan patriarki; kelahiran semula maternal; sastera lisan Asia Tenggara
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abbasi, P., & Moslehi, M. (2016). Ecofeminism and Gilman's Herland: A Gaardian approach. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 22(2).
Ardini, A. S. (2023). Escaping to nature: Ecofeminism in the children’s book Bridge to Terabithia. J-Lalite: Journal of English Studies, 4(1), 1–12.
Bag, S. (2023). An ecofeminist study of Lalitambika Antharjanam’s A Leaf in the Storm and Jamila Hashmi’s Exile. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research (IJFMR, 5(2), 1–11.
Bahn, G. H., & Hong, M. (2019). Shift from Wicked Stepmother to Stepmother in Eastern and Western Fairy Tales. Psychiatry investigation, 16(11), 836.
Beng, L. Y., & Balaya, S. (2016). From international horror films to the local Filem Seram: Examining the cinematic identity and roles of the Malaysian Pontianak. KEMANUSIAAN: The Asian Journal of Humanities, 23.
Beng, S. J., & Noor, M. M. (2022). Nature as a means of empowerment in Krasue: The Inhumane Kiss and Suzzanna: Buried Alive. Journal of Language and Communication, 9(2), 267–281.
Boonpok, D. (2009). Morana Mada: Pla Boo Thong Chabub Khner [Morana Mada: Pla Bu Thong in the Khmer version]. Manutsat Paritat: Journal of Humanities, 20(1), 13–22.
Chamoli, M. A., Khare, M. G., & Kaur, R. (2021). The role of cultural folklore and its influence on Indian societal values. Ilkogretim Online, 20(2), 2810–2820.
Chandra, A. A., Waluyo, H. J., & Wardani, N. E. (2019). Study of ecofeminism in the Sawitri dan Tujuh Pohon Kelahiran by Mashdar Zainal. Proceeding of The 2nd ICoLLiT (International Conference on Language, Literature and Teaching), 2019.
Dahal, H., & Bhatta, B. (2021). Folktales: A moral message from the past to the future generation. Nepal Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 4(1), 31–43.
Duile, T. (2020). Kuntilanak: Ghost narratives and Malay modernity in Pontianak, Indonesia. Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde/Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 176(2–3), 279–303.
Eastin, J. F. (2003). Impact of absent father-figures on male subjects and the correlation to juvenile delinquency: Findings and implications. University of North Texas.
Elgamal, A. M. A. (2023). Reimagining woman-nature relationships: Healing, transformation, and empowerment in Sahar Elmougy's work. CDELT Occasional Papers in the Development of English Education, 83(1), 3–29.
Frank, S. M. (1998). Life with father: Parenthood and masculinity in the nineteenth-century American North. JHU Press.
Fromm, E. (2013). The forgotten language: An introduction to the understanding of dreams, fairy tales, and myths. Open Road Media.
Fregara, N. (2023). Ecological, feminist, and monstrous trends against women and nature’s oppression in Olga Tokarczuk’s works. Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, 9(2), 150–166.
Johansson, T., & Andreasson, J. (2017). Fatherhood in transition: Masculinity, identity, and everyday life. Springer.
Kawan, C. S. (2016). Books, files, slips, clippings, copies... In short the stuff which makes a handbook. The Encyclopedia of the Folktale, its Library and Archives. Estudis de Literatura Oral Popular= Studies in Oral Folk Literature, 5, 99–113.
Lamb, M. E. (2013). The father's role: Cross-cultural perspectives. Routledge.
Martini, G. (2020). Cinderella: An evolutionary approach to the study of folktales (Doctoral dissertation, Durham University).
McLanahan, S., Tach, L., & Schneider, D. (2013). The causal effects of father absence. Annual Review of Sociology, 39(1), 399–427.
Michael Gebreyohannes, N., & Ambachew, A. D. (2024). The relationship between women and nature: An ecofeminist analysis of Aminatta Forna’s Ancestor Stones. Routledge Open Research, 3, 36.
Ozbay, I., & Ugurelli, Y. O. (2024). Mirror, mirror, on the wall! Are all stepparents wicked? Impressions of stepparents’ role in the fairy tales. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 32(4), 607-620.
Pagobtham, P., Klannut, P., Kanjon, K., & Klannut, P. (2024). Violence in Pla Bu Thong Klon Suad literature. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Songkhla Rajabhat University, 6(1), 161–188.
Phat, P. (2019). A comparative study of the tale literary work Pla Bu Thong in the Thai version with Morana Mada in the Khmer version (Master’s thesis, Mahasarakham University).
Saladin, C. S., & Rohanda, R. (2024). Relasi alam dan perempuan dalam novel Dlumū Lā Tajiffu karya Byar Rufael: Kajian ekofeminisme. Aksara: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 25(2), 470–480.
Sakamoto Martini, G., Kendal, J., & Tehrani, J. J. (2023). Cinderella’s family tree: A phylomemetic case study of ATU 510/511. Fabula, 64(1–2), 7–30.
Sangeetha, R. K., & Rathna, P. (2021). Behind Our Sip of Tea: An Ecofeminist Study of Environmental Refugees in Kokilam Subbiah's Mirage. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 27(3).
Sangkhaphanthanon, T. (2013). Phuying Ying Ruea: Phuying, Thammachat, Amnat, lae Watthanatham Kamnot: Satriniyom Choeng Niwet nai Wannakhadi Thai [Women shooting boats: Women, nature, power, and culture—Ecofeminism in Thai literature]. Bangkok: Nakorn.
Sharma, K., & Joshi, A. P. (2024). Colonial narrative and woman-nature dynamics in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: An ecofeminist critique. The Outlook: Journal of English Studies, 15, 99–109.
Shiva, V. (2016). Staying alive: Women, ecology, and development. North Atlantic Books.
Shukla, S. S. D. S. (2024). A comparative study of folklore and oral traditions across cultures. Scholar'Digest: Journal of Arts & Humanities, 1(1), 55–74.
Tan, K. P. (2010). Pontianaks, ghosts, and the possessed: Female monstrosity and national anxiety in Singapore cinema. Asian Studies Review, 34(2), 151–170.
The Fine Arts Department. (2014). Pla Boo Thong Klon Suad [The poem of Pla Boo Thong]. Office of Literature and History.
Thiara, R. K., & Humphreys, C. (2017). Absent presence: The ongoing impact of men's violence on the mother–child relationship. Child & Family Social Work, 22(1), 137–145.
Warren, K. (2000). Ecofeminist philosophy: A western perspective on what it is and why it matters. Rowman & Littlefield.
Winarti, W., Sari, A. A. K., Mayangseto, G., & Istiqomah, F. N. (2022). Continuity and discontinuity of gender-nature relations in D. H. Lawrence's The Woman Who Rode Away. Leksema: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 7(2), 167–174.
Wu, Z. (2023). Analysis of the phenomenon and causes of stepmother culture. Academic Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 5(1), 151–154.
Yang, S. J. (2014). Adapting Korean Cinderella Folklore as Fairy Tales for Children. University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Zipes, J. (2002). Breaking the magic spell: Radical theories of folk and fairy tales. University Press of Kentucky.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
eISSN : 2550-2131
ISSN : 1675-8021