Female Deities (Bidadari) in Indonesian Folklore: A Feminist Literary Critical Perspective

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.200204.004How to use a DOI?

Keywords

female deities, folklore, beauty, intelligence

Abstract

This study tries to examine the existence of female deity figures (bidadari) found in a number of folklores in Indonesia using the perspective of feminist literary criticism. Folklore which is the source of data is (1) Dewi Sri, (2) Dewi Nawang Wulan, and (3) Dewi Candika. The results showed that the female deity figures in Indonesian folklore are in accordance with the collective view of the past people with Hindu backgrounds who believed that there were other creatures besides humans who lived on earth, namely the spirits and the gods who came from heaven (sky palace) who had a relationship with human on earth. Physically and psychologically the female deity figures depicted in Indonesian folklore have perfect beauty and a high ability in intelligence and supernatural powers. They are believed to be able to carry out important tasks in life, such as fighting, carrying basic food sources, even protecting nature, such as the ocean and leading other creatures.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Wiyatmi
AU  - Else Liliani
AU  - Esti Swatikasari
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/02/12
TI  - Female Deities (Bidadari) in Indonesian Folklore: A Feminist Literary Critical Perspective
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Educational Research and Innovation (ICERI 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 18
EP  - 21
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200204.004
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.200204.004
ID  - 2020
ER  -