Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”

The figure of the Mother occupies a complex, often ambiguous space within Malay cultural imaginaries, in which she is both glorified (“good”) and vilified (“bad”). This paper presents an analysis of Deruma, the mother in the popular Malay folktale "Si Tanggang" and how her punishment of tu...

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Main Authors: Nurul Fateha,, Wan Nur Madiha Ramlan,
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22108/1/TS%2014.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22108/
https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/index
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spelling my-ukm.journal.221082023-08-16T05:09:02Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22108/ Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang” Nurul Fateha, Wan Nur Madiha Ramlan, The figure of the Mother occupies a complex, often ambiguous space within Malay cultural imaginaries, in which she is both glorified (“good”) and vilified (“bad”). This paper presents an analysis of Deruma, the mother in the popular Malay folktale "Si Tanggang" and how her punishment of turning him into stone is a form of maternal monstrosity. After her son insults and rejects her, she curses him into stone. The conceptualisation of maternal monstrosity in this paper follows, first and foremost, one of the denotations for the word monster, namely “a thing of extraordinary or daunting size.” Secondly, this paper also considers the etymology of the word monster, which comes from Latin monstrum, meaning to reveal and to warn. Then, Jeffrey Cohen’s proposition is adapted, which positions the monster’s body as a cultural one to analyse Si Deruma’s body language (facial expressions, speech, and action), ontology, and relations with others around her. From these findings, possible revelations or warnings from the tale and Si Deruma’s final act of monstrous curse will be considered in order to define the idea of maternal monstrosity in the context of this tale. At the end of this paper, we will demonstrate that maternal monstrosity can be read as an expression of female anxiety in a patriarchal society and a temporary exit from the ideals of mothering. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2023 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22108/1/TS%2014.pdf Nurul Fateha, and Wan Nur Madiha Ramlan, (2023) Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 29 (1). pp. 200-212. ISSN 0128-5157 https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/index
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/
language English
description The figure of the Mother occupies a complex, often ambiguous space within Malay cultural imaginaries, in which she is both glorified (“good”) and vilified (“bad”). This paper presents an analysis of Deruma, the mother in the popular Malay folktale "Si Tanggang" and how her punishment of turning him into stone is a form of maternal monstrosity. After her son insults and rejects her, she curses him into stone. The conceptualisation of maternal monstrosity in this paper follows, first and foremost, one of the denotations for the word monster, namely “a thing of extraordinary or daunting size.” Secondly, this paper also considers the etymology of the word monster, which comes from Latin monstrum, meaning to reveal and to warn. Then, Jeffrey Cohen’s proposition is adapted, which positions the monster’s body as a cultural one to analyse Si Deruma’s body language (facial expressions, speech, and action), ontology, and relations with others around her. From these findings, possible revelations or warnings from the tale and Si Deruma’s final act of monstrous curse will be considered in order to define the idea of maternal monstrosity in the context of this tale. At the end of this paper, we will demonstrate that maternal monstrosity can be read as an expression of female anxiety in a patriarchal society and a temporary exit from the ideals of mothering.
format Article
author Nurul Fateha,
Wan Nur Madiha Ramlan,
spellingShingle Nurul Fateha,
Wan Nur Madiha Ramlan,
Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”
author_facet Nurul Fateha,
Wan Nur Madiha Ramlan,
author_sort Nurul Fateha,
title Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”
title_short Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”
title_full Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”
title_fullStr Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”
title_full_unstemmed Maternal monstrosity in “The Tale of Si Tanggang”
title_sort maternal monstrosity in “the tale of si tanggang”
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate 2023
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22108/1/TS%2014.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/22108/
https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/index
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score 13.211869