Indonesia
Ika Nurhayani, Ph.D.
The head of the Study Programme of Master of Linguistics, Faculty of Cultural Studies (FCS) Universitas Brawijaya (UB), Ika Nurhayani, Ph.D., became a speaker at the international conference Aquatic Powers: Divine Animals of the Asia-Pacific which was held online on Friday (6/3/2022). The event is part of the Whales of a Power project. This project deals with the study of the relationship between humans and sea creatures in the practice of popular beliefs in various places within East Asia maritime. This international conference was organized by the University of Oslo and was attended by researchers from various countries.
Ika Nurhayani became the representative of Indonesia to introduce folklore and culture related to marine affairs along with researchers from other countries. She presented her material, Ecolinguistics: Indonesian Folklore on Divine Marine Animals, which explained about three well-known folk tales from Indonesia, namely Nyi Blorong, Putri Mandalika, and Gurita Laut Sarina.
Ecolinguistics investigates whether a discourse contributes to environmental preservation or environmental damage. The three folklores contain the same meaning, the preservation of the sea and the creatures that live in it. This is found in the diction in the form of respect for spirits or creatures who were originally a princess. They sacrifice themselves and contribute to human well-being and protect nature. These stories bear ecofeminism, the princesses were transformed into sacred marine animals so the local community will develop environmental consciousness attitude. [test/dts/msh/PR FCS]