Marina Frolova | Lomonosov Moscow State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Marina Frolova

Studia Litterarum, 2021

The paper deals with the most possible ancient plot of the Freudian-like Sundanese folk tale “San... more The paper deals with the most possible ancient plot of the Freudian-like Sundanese folk tale “Sang Kuriang”. The core plot about the murder of the father and the desire for incest with the mother is often explained with the “Oedipus complex” concept from the Sigmund Freud’s theory rooted in the ancient Greek myth. The study is based on the cultural anthropological approach created on the Rene Gerard theory about the scapegoat mechanism, the clean and unclean sacrifice and the Vladimir Propp’s folkloristic application of the Frazer’s thesis about the periodic sacrifice of a sacred king. Through reconstruction method, including the comparative analysis of the nowadays fairy tales and modern Indonesian writers interpretation (by Ajip Rosidi, Utuy Tatang Sontani and Ayu Utami) the conclusion is made, that the model of patricide and the sinful lust for the mother was originated in the scheme of the sacred transfer of power, due to the sacrificing the old ruler by his successor, and marri...

International Journal of Humanity Studies, 2017

The article deals with the idea of rediscovering three basic images of Indonesian culture: the se... more The article deals with the idea of rediscovering three basic images of Indonesian culture: the sea, the volcano and the tiger, with the help of folklore and splendid literary works of modern Indonesian writers as well. Novels by Mochtar Lubis (Harimau! Harimau! 1975), Eka Kurniawan (Lelaki Harimau, 2004), and Budi Sardjono (Sang Nyai, 2011) are taken as a source. The enriched traditional meanings of some animistic symbols appear in different light in each novel, rediscovering the layers of main plot and characters connotations in different ways of Neo-Traditionalism, Deconstruction and Remythologization.

Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 2017

Объектом исследования является знаменитый сюжет сунданского «народного сказания» (черита ракьят) ... more Объектом исследования является знаменитый сюжет сунданского «народного сказания» (черита ракьят) о Санг Курианге, который имеет схожие черты с мифом об Эдипе и его литературным дериватом-античной трагедией Софокла «Царь Эдип» (убийство отца и желание инцеста с матерью). Бóльшая часть современных индонезийских версий «Санг Курианга» утратила некоторые существенные сюжетные звенья, и их стало невозможно восстановить по современным пересказам, преимущественно выполненным в жанре литературной сказки для детей. По этим текстам заметно, как «Санг Курианг» постепенно терял свои древнейшие элементы в структуре повествования. Сопоставив версии детских пересказов (а также современных информантов-сунданцев) c художественными текстами индонезийских писателей, главным образом с текстом редакции Аипа Росиди (Ajip Rosidi, род. 1938) «Санг Курианг опоздал» ("Sang Kuriang kesiangan", 1960), удается получить наиболее вероятный архаичный вариант, восстановить «предысторию» и утраченные мотивировки поступков героев, привести аналогии с древнегреческим сюжетом об Эдипе и объяснить некоторые неясные моменты «Санг Курианга» при помощи психоаналитических (З. Фрейд), культурно-антропологических (Дж. Фрейзер, Р. Жирар) и фольклористических (В. Я. Пропп) исследований об Эдипе, а также определить место «Санг Курианга» в системе жанров фольклора Индонезии. Библиогр. 15 назв.

The Nusantara folklore studies are included into the basic course for IAAS students of Indonesian... more The Nusantara folklore studies are included into the basic course for IAAS students of Indonesian language groups. The renewed course of folklore paves the way for the future deeper understanding of Indonesian literature and culture. The course titled 'Indonesian Folklore Guide' is planned to be published. Its main topics are myths and rituals, folk tales, minor folklore genres, ghost-lore and modern forms of Indonesian folklore. Ten lectures are devoted to the following subjects: 1) Spirits, Shamans and Were-Demons: Spells and Incantations; 2) Gods and Heroes: Mythological texts; 3) Shadows, Puppets, Masks and People: Rituals, Sacred Performances and Story-Telling; 4) Giants, Hermits and the Royals: Wonder Tales; 5) Indonesian Cinderellas and Sleeping Beauties: Folktale Motifs and Archaic Reconstructions; 6) The Cunning Mouse-Deer Kancil and the Lazy Man Si Kabayan: Tales about Tricksters; 7) Minor Folklore Genres: Riddles, Pantuns, Jokes and Proverbs; 8) Ghosts and Ghouls: Indonesian Demonology; 9) Child-lore, Urban-lore & Internet-lore; 10) The Future of the Folklore. The course includes group discussions and creative homework assignments. The bibliography and recommendations for students include Indonesian and Malay original sources, translated texts as well as theoretical works by prominent folklorists, philologists and anthropologists.

Studia Litterarum , 2021

The paper about the Indonesian “zombie” pocong examines specific features of the ghost stories in... more The paper about the Indonesian “zombie” pocong examines specific features of the ghost stories in Indonesia, tracks the etymology of the words hantu (“ghost,” “undead”) and pocong (“wrapped in shroud”), and includes a translation of a typical ghost story (“Pocong and a Cart Hawker”). It introduces the hitherto understudied material in Russia that counts only a small number of Indonesian and Anglophone works. The aims of this paper include collecting data about this mythological creature
from Indonesian sources, studying the image of pocong and contemporary narratives about him, searching his closest parallels in the world folklore, and interpreting the meanings of the character discovered in modern Indonesian culture. For religious people, pocong is a symbol of the frailty of life. Some traditional Muslims in modern Indonesia practice pocong related rituals (“Pocong’s oath,” pesugihan). Nowadays, the image of pocong is demythologized as it circulates in urban flesh-mobs, pranks, and horror films. The typology of this scary image is surprisingly similar not to Muslim
genies but to from Chinese hopping vampires. Modern zombie studies shed light on the genealogy of pocong as a walking dead. Todd K. Platts discusses the spectrum of potential underpinnings of the zombie that include racism, terrorism, class inequality, disintegration of a nuclear family, consumer culture etc that may be applied to pocong as well. Pocong symbolizes oppressed common folk and this image is frequently used in
mass political protests. Interpretation of pocong as a marginalized figure is relevant for the folklore studies in Indonesia, as well as for the study of horror-discourse in general

Metasastra, 2020

The paper deals with the most possible ancient plot of the Freudian-like Sundanese folktale“Sang ... more The paper deals with the most possible ancient plot of the Freudian-like Sundanese folktale“Sang Kuriang”. The core plot about the murder of the father and the desire for incest with the mother isoften explained with the “Oedipus complex” concept from Sigmund Freud’s theory rooted in the ancientGreek myth. The study is based on the cultural anthropological approach created on the Rene Gérardtheory about the scapegoat mechanism, the clean and unclean sacrifice, and Vladimir Propp’s folkloristicapplication of Frazer’s thesis about the periodic sacrifice of a sacred king. Through the reconstructionmethod, including the comparative analysis of the nowadays fairy tales and modern Indonesian writersinterpretation (by Ajip Rosidi, Utuy Tatang Sontani, and Ayu Utami) the conclusion is made, that the modelof patricide and the sinful lust for the mother was originated in the scheme of the sacred transfer ofpower, due to the sacrificing the old ruler by his successor, and marriage with the queen, the power holder.

Frolova M.V. Indonesian Yusuf and Zulaikha: Short Story “The Apple and the Knife” by Intan Paramaditha (2008). Orientalistica. 2020;3(1):247-262. (In Russ.), 2020

The short story “Apple and Knife” (2008) by Indonesian writer Intan Paramaditha (born in 1979) ... more The short story “Apple and Knife” (2008) by Indonesian writer Intan
Paramaditha (born in 1979) is analysed within the comparative-typological framework of the Biblical and Quranic narrative about Yusuf and Zulaikha. The continuity of the motif transposition is traced from the literatures of the Middle East to that of the peoples of Nusantara who embraced Islam later. The intermediary was the Javanese Serat Yusup, which dates back to the 17th century. The literary skills and methods by Intan Paramaditha’s find their place somewhere in between the feminist literary criticism and horror stories. The deconstruction of some elements of the traditional narrative about Yusuf (e.g. the episode with the noble Egyptian women) makes
the popular story to sound more meaningful to the readers of the modern Indonesian literature. In its turn, it sheds some light on the political and social developments of the “re-Islamized” island state of Indonesia.

Frolova M. V.Indonesian Horror Story by Intan Paramaditha. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, pp. 368–379., 2020

Analysis and interpretation of the short stories by Indonesian female writer Intan Pa... more Analysis and interpretation of the short stories by Indonesian female writer Intan Paramaditha (Intan Paramaditha, born in 1979) make it possible to understand that her writing occu-pies a special niche in the modern Indonesian literary paradigm. Paramaditha’s feminist texts are disguised as horror stories with settings in contemporary Indonesia. The article examines five short stories (“Spinner of Darkness” (Pemintal Kegelapan), “Vampire” (Vampir), “Pola-roid’s Mystery” (Misteri Polaroid), “The Blind Woman without a Toe” (Perempuan Buta tanpa Ibu Jari), and “The Obsessive Twist” (Goyang Penasaran)). Using the intertextual method, it was possible to prove the gothic poetics of these literary works. The short stories contain the mosaic of folklore-mythological motives from the Malay Archipelago, Biblical and Quranic narratives, as well as European fairy tales and allusions to American horror fiction and horror films. Her prose is built upon some borrowed European literary forms for expression of authentic Indonesian content. The social themes are intertwined with feminist criticism that is presented as a Kitsch of the Indonesian mass culture. In “The Obsessive Twist” the main conflict is focused on the heated debates on sexuality, politics, violence, and religion. The feminist agenda of her prose is contrasted with the turn of contemporary Indonesia towards a Muslim patriarchal society. Paramaditha’s works represent a unique product of West-East-synthesis aimed not only at the Indonesian, but also the global audience.

ETNOGRAFIA (Этнография, МАЭ РАН "Кунсткамера"), 2019

The article opens with a review of specific ghosts in the traditional folklore of the Austronesia... more The article opens with a review of specific ghosts in the traditional folklore
of the Austronesian region. This is a group of malicious ghosts sharing similar features and
functions and appearing in the form of women and children who died at birth. In Indonesia
the most popular ghost of this kind is kuntilanak, a ghost of a young woman with matted
hair wearing a long white dress. At the very moment of recognition of her true self she turns
to be an undead monster with killing intentions. The majority of folk-tales about her focus
on death by childbirth or death caused by sexual violence, after which the victim transforms
into kuntilanak. This image is interpreted both in tradition and modern popular culture. As
the example, the paper analyses the horror film “Kuntilanak” (directed by Rizal Mantovani in
2006) from different perspectives including those of Freudo-Marxism and feminist criticism.
The monster out of control is understood as an unconscious symbol of fear and personal trauma
or as that of unspoken dissatisfaction with current political and ideological situation in the
country. Kuntilanak as a “victim of patriarchy” is exploited by Indonesian feminists. Nowadays
the avenging ghost appears to be a universal symbol of a marginalized person.

co-Author: Alexandra Lunyova, Master student at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University (Russia, Moscow)
E-mail: yatagai.rohler@gmail.com

The Clove-Cigarette Girl and the Man-tiger: Ratih Kumala and Eka Kurniawan as representing the Generation 2000 in Indonesian literature (in Russian: «Девушка с гвоздичной сигаретой» и «мужчина-тигр»: Ратих Кумала и Эка Курниаван как представители «Поколения 2000-х» в индонезийской литературе), 2017

At the beginning of 2000s the literary scene of Indonesia is represented by the emerge of the new... more At the beginning of 2000s the literary scene of Indonesia is represented by the emerge of the new Generation 2000 (Angkatan 2000). Due to their experiments in the fiction forms and the turning to the modern history of Indonesia the many-sided prose of Eka Kurniawan and Ratih Kumala became well-known. Their various novels underline the idea of the tyranny of the military forces and the police during the Soeharto Era. The constant changing and the searching of literary dimensions make their texts popular and rank them to another level of the recognized talents of the Generation 2000.

TROPICAL GOTHIC, OR INDONESIAN HORROR STORY BY UGORAN PRASAD (in Russian: ТРОПИЧЕСКАЯ ГОТИКА, ИЛИ ИНДОНЕЗИЙСКАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА УЖАСОВ. РАССКАЗЫ УГОРАНА ПРАСАДА), 2018

The thesis offers an observation on Indonesian horror stories by Ugoran Prasad (born in 1978) as ... more The thesis offers an observation on Indonesian horror stories by Ugoran Prasad (born in 1978) as a heritage of European/American gothic tradition mixed with local elements of Indonesian folklore like urban legends and ghost stories. The thesis deals with the basic criteria of horror genres in general and as they are represented in modern Indonesian prose by Ugoran Prasad.

The image of the Nias Island in the Indonesian ethnographical novel “The Sky People” by J.A. Sonjaya, 2018

The paper deals with the preservation of the original Nias Island culture by the literary means o... more The paper deals with the preservation of the original Nias Island culture by the literary means of the modern Indonesian writer J.A. Sonjaya (born in 1974), who also works in the field of archeology and ethnography. In his novel “The Sky People” (Manusia Langit) the vanishing traditional world of the small Indonesian Island is depicted in full color. The content describes the peculiar traditions of all the rites of passage like birth, initiation, marriage, death, funeral as well as oral mythological recitation and the vital cults of megaliths and the ancestors. The titles of novel’s chapters represent the binary oppositions like Earth-Sky, Man-Woman etc. without any deconstruction: the writer’s idea is aimed at the conservation of the tradition. The strong ‘scientific’ composition of the novel is supplied with the glossary of used Nias language words and expressions, and its simple lot is full of the mass-literature clichés. The modern Indonesian ethnographical prose inherits the features of the village prose of the 1960s and the significant parts of the robinsonade subgenre of the same time.

РЕКОНСТРУКЦИЯ АРХАИЧЕСКОЙ ВЕРСИИ СУНДАНСКОГО СКАЗАНИЯ О САНГ КУРИАНГЕ, 2017

The paper points out the well-known Sundanese cerita rakyat plot about Sang Kuriang, which has si... more The paper points out the well-known Sundanese cerita rakyat plot about Sang Kuriang, which has similar features with the myth and Ancient Greek tragedy “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles (the murder of the father and the desire of incest with the mother). Most of the modern Indonesian versions of Sang Kuriang lost their essential plot sections, which are unable to be restored according to the modern story-telling of the said plot and literary fairy-tales for children.
Such texts reveal the degradation of archaic features in the structure of Sang Kuriang folk-tale. On the contrary, the modern Indonesian writers like Aijp Rosidi (born in 1938), have reconstructed
the ancient roots of the folk-tale. After comparing his work “Sang Kuriang is late” (“Sang Kuriang kesiangan”, 1960) with the versions for children and the contemporary storytelling practice of the same plot, its possible to rebuild the utmost archaic version, find out the lost motivations of the characters’ deeds in different interpretations of the same plot, and explain some unclear moments making use of Oedipus-studies, such as
methods of psychoanalysis (Freud), cultural anthropology (Frazer, Girard) and folkloristics (Propp), as well as declare the place of “Sang Kuriang” in the genre-system of Indonesian folklore.

Conference Presentations by Marina Frolova

The article deals with mythological creature kuntilanak in the context of her genesis and the con... more The article deals with mythological creature kuntilanak in the context of her genesis and the contemporary Indonesian mass culture. The popularity of this female ghost makes it necessary to restore the evolution of this image based upon folkloristic, ethnological, linguistic, and cultural evidence. Her scary image roots back into the ancient times and belongs to a circle of similar female ghosts of women died in impure condition. The paper explores the Nusantara ghost-lore genre cerita hantu, the regional variations of kuntilanak and the development of this image from a woman who died in childbirth into the victim of sexual abuse. It’s shown how the original folklore image is exploited in Indonesian mass culture where the old myth is recharged with new connotations. In horror films like “Kuntilanak” (2006) the monster out of control is understood in many ways: as the unconscious symbol of fear and personal trauma, as the unspoken dissatisfaction with current political and ideological situation in the country, including growing Islamization. The mass culture demythologize kuntilanak making her harmless, and for Indonesian feminists “sister” mbak Kunti is a victim of patriarchy, the Other stigmatized by the modern Muslim society. Like many other variations of this hantu she is interpreted as a monster, as a victim and as a final girl from the horror films at the same time. The main idea of this paper is to take kuntilanak out of the framework of folklore and post-folklore studies and to put this image in a wider context to see, what clues it may provide for deeper understanding of Indonesian society nowadays.

Sang Kuriang as “Sundanese Oedipus” reviewed: the origin of the myth beside the psycho-analysis, 2017

The Ancient Greek myth as displayed in the tragedy by Sophocles “Oedipus Rex” tells about the dra... more The Ancient Greek myth as displayed in the tragedy by Sophocles “Oedipus Rex” tells about the dramatic figure of Oedipus, who unwittingly became the king of Thebes by killing his own father Laius, and married his mother, queen Jocasta. The similar plot can be seen in “Sang Kuriang”, though there are some differences to be noticed.

The well-known Sundanese folk-tale about the strange “love triangle” between Sang Kuriang, Si Tumang and Dayang Sumbi is often explained with the “Oedipus complex” concept from the Sigmund Freud’s theories. Because of psycho-analysis, Oedipus is known as the synonym of perverse sexual behavior. Is it really so? The paper deals with the cultural anthropology and folklore studies, which deny the sinful “complex” and recall the sacred transfer of power due to the sacrifice of the old ruler by his successor, and marriage to the queen, the power holder.
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Presented at ICOLLITE 2017_Bandung, Indonesia

Books by Marina Frolova

Ronda Malam: Cerita Hantu dari Indonesia Ночная стража: народные индонезийские истории о встречах с духами, 2018

Пособие по домашнему чтению. Рекомендовано студентам II курса ИСАА МГУ и всем изучающим индонез... more Пособие по домашнему чтению.
Рекомендовано студентам II курса ИСАА МГУ и всем изучающим индонезийский язык.