Javanese mythology in the modern Indonesian novel “Nyai Roro Kidul — the Queen of the South Seas” by Budi Sardjono

Abstract

The article is devoted to the best-seller novel of 2011, created in the folklore theme and filled with up-to-date elements. The novel Budi Sardjono “Nyai Roro Kidul — the Queen of the South Seas” shows the synthesis of postmodern trends and Javanese mythology. The objects of this study are to study the images of the protagonists, based on the well-known folklore images of Javanese deities of water and fire, ocean and volcano. The analysis of the modern Indonesian novel is devoted to its mythological component. The close interest to the novel is caused by the topical problem of “remythologisation” in contemporary Indonesian literature, and the main images and characters in the novel by Budi Sardjono, the ancient Javanese deities, are a vivid example of the present-day literary return to the mythological roots.

Keywords:

contemporary Indonesian literature, folklore, Javanese mythology, Nyai Roro Kidul, Petruk