Humans and animal welfare in the Adventures of the Mouse-deer: an ecological discourse analysis

Abstract

The mouse-deer is a popular trickster character in Indonesian and Malaysian children’s folktales. The species was ubiquitous in Southeast Asia, but human activities have led to biodiversity loss and a decline of the mouse-deer. Popular discourses such as folktales can influence and inspire community members to protect animal welfare and biodiversity. However, the ecolinguistic analysis of the mouse-deer folktales is lacking, despite their potential. Therefore, this study aims to investigate a children’s book based on the folktales, entitled The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, using ecological discourse analysis to look at the ideology of the book and to verify whether it is consistent with environmental ethics to protect animal welfare and the ecosophy supporting the environment and biodiversity. It also answers whether the book is compatible with fostering early environmental awareness of animal welfare in children. Moreover, the study uses Fairclough’s three-dimensional discourse analysis to reveal the ideology of the discourse. The ideology of the discourse is then contrasted with environmental ethics and ecosophy. The study finds that The Adventures of the Mouse-deer is eco-ambivalent since it illustrates both exploitation of wild animals and the principles of environmental ethics and ecosophy. In conclusion, the mouse-deer folktales can serve as an environmental exposure for young children as long as the story emphasizes the struggle of wild animals due to exploitation and unethical treatments by humans. The folktale traditionally focuses on the mouse-deer’s tricks, but it can also serve a conservation purpose to protect the biodiversity and the species within it.

Keywords:

• Animal welfare
• children’s folktales
• ecological discourse analysis
• early environmental awareness
• human intervention
• mouse-deer

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Jeroen van de Weijer, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

SUBJECTS:

• Education
• Cultural Studies
• Language & Linguistics
• Literature

1. Introduction

Mouse-deer are small hoofed mammals native to Southeast Asia and were once widespread, especially in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. The popularity of the animals inspired the mouse-deer folktales, a series of fables beloved by children in Indonesia and Malaysia. The folktales chronicle the life and the adventure of a mouse-deer called Si Kancil (Indonesian) or Sang Kancil (Malaysia). Kancil is a term used for tragulus javanicus or tragulus kanchil, and si and sang are definite articles in Indonesian and Malaysian. The mouse-deer folktales were the most popular fables in Indonesia and were used by 66.95 percent of Indonesians as their children’s storytelling material (Nugraha et al., 2022). In Malay folktales, Sang Kancil is portrayed as clever and benevolent, despite being one of the smallest creatures in the Southeast Asian jungle. Moreover, Sang Kancil is said to have personally defeated or helped other animals defeat stronger and wicked opponents, including the tiger and the crocodile (Peow, 2016).

Due to environmental destruction, the number of mouse-deer is in decline in Southeast Asia. Massive deforestation has destroyed many habitats and species in Southeast Asia, including the mouse-deer. The region lost about 1.6 million hectares of forest every year from 1990 to 2010, shrinking its total forest area from 268 million hectares to 236 million hectares (Estoque et al., 2019). Scientists worry that more than 40% of the region’s biodiversity could disappear by 2100 (Estoque et al., 2019). Moreover, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (n.d.) claims that global food production and consumption are the main causes of the loss of biodiversity. Farming alone destroys 70% of life on land, and fishing depletes the fish stocks in the sea. As a result, one out of every eight plants and animals in the world could become extinct soon (UNEP, n.d.).

The mouse-deer is now rarely seen in the wild in Southeast Asia. The Philippine mouse-deer is a rare and endangered species that lives only on a few islands in the Philippines. These animals are threatened by the loss of their forest homes, as well as by hunting (Gray, 2018; Supsup et al., 2021). The Indonesian mouse-deer, which mostly live on the island of Java, are now rarely seen in the wild, and their habitat is mostly restricted to protected areas such as the Gunung Halimun National Park (Farida et al., 2006). Some researchers have urged for a reassessment of its threat level, as it may be endangered by human activities (Rode-Margono et al., 2014). The Malaysian mouse-deer are negatively affected by habitat fragmentation and logging (Hazwan et al., 2022). Hazwan et al. (2022) further recommend that necessary steps be taken to support the habitats of the mouse-deer.

The mouse-deer folktales have the potential to help preserve biodiversity, including the species of their main characters. Language is the primary tool that humans use to communicate and construct meanings. A community or group’s social and cultural norms, beliefs, and practices can be shaped and reflected through discourse. It can also have an impact on how individuals view and interact with one another as well as themselves (Armstrong & Ferguson, 2010). Therefore, the power of language is an essential tool in shaping human beings’ perceptions of animals (Bhattacherjee & Sinha, 2021), such as their attitude towards the welfare of animals. Bhattacherjee & Sinha (2021) further indicate that popular discourses can influence the cognition of community members for the natural environment around them. A study of the mouse-deer folktales is very useful for long-term environmental conservation efforts involving young generations in the future. In addition, the study is also useful to complement the critical discourse analysis study of mouse-deer folktales, especially those related to the values or ideologies that exist in the story.

However, an ecological discourse analysis of the mouse-deer folktales is lacking, despite their popularity as folktales and fables for Indonesian children. Kheong et al. (2019) investigates Sang Kancil as a cultural artifact, displaying an archetypal trickster who stands up against injustice. Peow (2016) compares Sang Kancil with Chinese trickster tales, The Rabbit and The Rat. He concludes that animal tricksters are not given high regard in Chinese tales while they are often celebrated in Malay culture.

Ecological discourse analysis has been done on Jataka tales, a series of Indian fables, which was suggested as the inspiration of the mouse-deer folktales (McKean, 1971; Peow, 2016). Bhattacherjee & Sinha (2021) investigate the ecosophy of Jataka Tales using Stibbe’s theories (2015), and claim that the fables encourage people to value and appreciate nature and respect every living being of the ecosystems.

Certain authors have performed ecological discourse analysis on other children’s stories and fables. Indriyanto (2021) studies Hawaiian folktale, the Wind Gourd of La’amaomoa, using Stibbe’s ecosophy. By studying the vocabulary used in the folktale, he finds that the discourse in the text is constructive because it recognizes the significance of sustainability and the emotional connections people have with their environment. Zaytoon (2022) performs ecological discourse analysis on Ruskin Bond’s children stories using Stibbe’s (2015) ecolinguistics model and Halliday’s transitivity system to identify the linguistic features of beneficial discourse. She comes to the conclusion that fantastic stories with specific language use patterns—such as presenting nature as the actor participant and the agent in the sentence—create environmental consciousness and an appreciation of nature.

Therefore, the author selected a book based on the mouse-deer folktales entitled The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, published by The Development Project of Indonesian and Regional Literature, the Language Center of the Ministry of National Education (Suharto, 2002). The book was chosen since it is an official version of the mouse-deer folktales published by the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia in 2002. Moreover, the author employs ecological discourse analysis with the three-dimensional discourse analysis of Fairclough and Wodak (1997) to investigate the text and the environmental ethics of Attfield (2014) along with the ecosophy of Stibbe (2015) to decide whether the ideology of the text supports animal welfare and ethical human treatment of animals. Hence the aim of this paper is to apply an ecological discourse analysis to The Adventures of the Mouse-deer and to address the following answers: (1) is The Adventures of the Mouse-deer a positive discourse which supports animal welfare and ethical human treatment of animals? (2) is the story compatible with fostering early environmental awareness about protecting animal welfare in children?

2. Literature review

2.1. The history of the mouse-deer folktale

The oldest mouse-deer folktales in Indonesia were written by Kyai Rangga Amongsastra in the form of macapat, traditional Javanese verse forms, in 1822 in Surakarta and was published by Dr. W. Palmer van den Broekin in 1878. It was later revised by D.F. van der Pant in 1889 (Fang, 2013). Next, Serat Kancil [the Chronicle of the Mouse-deer] of van Dorp was published by G.C.T. Van Dorp in 1871 in Semarang. The third collection was written by Pangeran Arya Sasraningrat from Yogyakarta in 1891. Besides Java, the mouse-deer folktales can also be found in Aceh, the islands of Roti, Timur and Kangean (Fang, 2013), Malaysia (Peow, 2016), and the Philippines (Tsuji, 2022).

2.2. The Adventures of the mouse-deer: a mouse-deer folktale

The Adventures of the Mouse-deer is a collection of stories that show how the mouse-deer uses his cleverness to escape from or help other animals who are threatened by stronger predators. Being a small and vulnerable animal, the mouse-deer relies on his wit to outsmart his predators. As can be observed from Figure 1, a mouse-deer looks like a small deer with a brown coat and white stripes on its chest and belly. It has a pink nose and large, dark eyes. Its legs are thin and hoofed. However, the mouse-deer is not a member of the deer family because it belongs to the Tragulidae family (Kusuda et al., 2013).

Figure 1. Mouse-deer (tragulus khancil).

Mouse-deer Singapore Zoo by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, 2012, Wikipedia.

Mouse-deer Singapore Zoo, 2012 - Chevrotain - Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Adventures of the Mouse-deer starts with The Magic Box which tells the story of a tiger caught by a man-made trap in a jungle. The tiger asks a deer to rescue him. But instead of thanking the deer after he is rescued, the tiger proceeds to attack the deer to devour him. Luckily, the smart Kancil is nearby and tricks the tiger to lock itself once again in the trap. Kancil and the deer escape from the tiger unharmed.

The second story, The Belt of the King, talks about the smart Kancil escaping from another tiger by tricking him to wear a sacred belt. Kancil tells him that one day he sneaked around the bushes to watch the king pass the jungle with his guards. He says that the king was unhappy with that and was going to punish Kancil unless he was willing to guard the king’s sacred belt. Kancil manages to persuade the tiger to wear the belt. The belt is actually a big snake which then attacks the tiger and kills him. With his brilliant mind, Kancil manages to avoid harm once more.

In the third story, The Greedy Crocodile, Kancil avoids another near-death experience. While drinking water from a river, Kancil is ambushed by a big crocodile. The trickster animal cons the predator by offering it to eat his wife and child also since they have made a pact to die together. Under the guise of taking the crocodile to his family, Kancil rides on the crocodile’s back and directs the unsuspecting crocodile to a populated village. The villagers then attack and kill the crocodile. Kancil escapes from danger once again with his cleverness. This story is similar to the one in the Hikayat Si Kancil [Adventures of the Mouse-deer] popular in Malaysia. In this story, Kancil tricks a float of crocodiles to take him to the other side of the river (Fang, 2013).

The fourth story, The Spiked Bridge, talks about how Kancil tricks the friends of the greedy crocodile who seek revenge for the death of their friend. Kancil is drinking water in a nearby river when he is surrounded by a pack of crocodiles wanting to kill and eat him. Kancil cleverly tells them that he will help them to make sure that everyone gets a fair share of his body. He makes them lining up alongside the river then he jumps on each of their backs, telling them which part of his body they will get. Upon jumping on the last crocodile’s back, he then jumps to the other side of the river and escapes. Kancil outwits his enemies and survives another peril with his intelligence.

The last story, The Fake King, is different from the previous four stories because the villain is not a predator. A monkey tells the animals in the jungle that the king has bestowed a power upon him to rule the jungle. As evidence, he shows a scroll of wood which according to him contains the king’s blessing for him to be the ruler. The monkey turns out to be a bad ruler, demanding other animals to supply him with endless fruits and comfort. Kancil tricks him to get the scroll of wood and he shows the animals that the scroll is actually empty. The next day, the animals abandon him. Once again, Kancil’s cunning saves him and other animals from trouble.

It can be concluded that Kancil is a trickster. Tricksters are common in folktales around the world because they have the quality of underdogs who triumph against all odds. This quality is attractive to readers because the weak overturn or subvert expectations and achieve creative breakthroughs that ordinary people also desire in their lives (Morgan, 2013). In fables, they are usually portrayed as small and lightweight animals such as cats and rabbits (Dunn, 2011). Moreover, the tricksters in different regions are often the small animals that are native to those places. For instance, in Somalia, a jackal is the one who plays tricks on others (Kapchits, 2017).

Furthermore, The Adventures of the Mouse-deer has two main plots. In one plot, Kancil saves his friends from predators or dishonest animals. In the other plot, he saves himself from them. He uses his brain, not his strength or physical efforts, to rescue himself and his friends. This is a common plot in the world’s fables. Puss in the Boots, a fable written by Charles Perrault presents a talking cat who is both a trickster and a helper (Dunn, 2011). This makes Kancil a potential healer and helper for children living in unsafe environments through storytelling (Shamsuddin & Sharudin, 2022).

With this quality, mouse-deer folktales are cherished in Indonesia and Malaysia for their educational values. In Malaysia, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education have used these stories to promote the reading skills of Orang Asli children and motivate them to attend school (Nasr & See, 2014). In Indonesia, the tales are used to develop prosocial behaviors in young children (Winarsih, 2014; Winarsih & Martani, 2018).

Mouse-deer folktales such as The Adventures of the Mouse-deer can function as moral literacy, offering children illustrations of moral standards such as solving problems without violence and basic survival skills (Nugraha et al., 2022). They can also be helpful to teach children problem-solving skills without lecturing them. Instead, the children can learn from the problem-solving skills demonstrated by Kancil in a fun way through reading books and relating them to their life (Pebryawan & Luwiyanto, 2018). Therefore, The Adventures of the Mouse-deer can enrich and enliven the reading experience for children since he is not a one-dimensional character. He shows nuances and depth as both a trickster and a helper. He is cunning, tricky, and deceitful, but he also has a helpful side. He is willing to go to great lengths to help other animals in need.

2.3. Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis

Fairclough’s three-dimensional discourse analysis looks at the interactions and influences of language, discourse, and social practices. It consists of three levels of analysis: text analysis, discourse practice analysis, and social practice analysis (Fairclough, 2013).

Text analysis examines how the text is constructed with language elements, such as vocabulary, grammar, coherence, and style. It also looks at how the text uses other modes of communication, such as images, sounds, and gestures. In contrast, the discourse practice analysis studies how the production and consumption of the text, such as who is the author, what is the goal, how is it shared, and how is it understood by the readers or listeners. It also looks at how the text connects with or opposes other texts and discourses. Finally, social practice analysis examines the wider social and cultural situation of the text, such as the power dynamics, ideologies, and values that influence and are influenced by the text and the discourse practice. The text’s historical and institutional aspects are also considered, for example, how it mirrors or influences the social changes and disputes of its context. In short, Fairclough’s framework applies these three levels of analysis to reveal the hidden meanings, assumptions, and effects of the text and the discourse, and to demonstrate how social reality is formed and influenced by language and discourse (Fairclough, 2013).

2.4. Environmental ethics

In contrast, environmental ethics deals with various practical issues that arise from human interactions with nature. As Attfield (2014) states, environmental ethics examines issues related to different values and perspectives among animal welfarism, environmentalism, and humanism, and the decisions that affect the moral status and inherent values of a group or an individual. For instance, the discourse may take a humanist stance that puts human interests and needs above those of other living beings, while environmental ethics may oppose this stance by claiming that non-human animals and ecosystems have intrinsic value and rights. Hence, the debate on environmental ethics can cover pollution and how to prevent or reduce it, the access to natural resources, human effects on the local or the global climate, and the conservation of biodiversity, both among and within species, subspecies and habitats (Attfield, 2014; Fairclough & Wodak, 1997).

Furthermore, Attfield (2014) states that human beliefs have a significant role in forming their views on the environment and its biodiversity. Some human beliefs endorse the notion that humans are caretakers or guardians of the Earth, while others reject it and claim that humans do not possess the Earth but keep it as a trust for the future generations. This variation in beliefs can influence how humans treat nature and their ethical obligations towards it.

2.5. Ecological discourse analysis

Ecolinguistics is a field of study that examines how language affects the environment. It criticizes the ways of speaking that harm nature, and explores the ways of speaking that inspire people to protect it (Stibbe, 2015). In addition, ecolinguistics is also interested in how language users deal with environmental issues in their communication (Stibbe, 2015). Moreover, ecolinguistics is a current and important topic for content analysis, as it can provide useful insights and collaborations for other environmental disciplines, such as environmental studies, ecology, and environmental communication (Chen, 2016).

Stibbe’s (2015) ecosophy is one of the contributions to the field of ecolinguistics, which investigates the role of language in the life-enhancing interactions of humans, other species, and the physical environment. Stibbe (2015) developed his own ecosophy based on the notion of Living!, a concept that values the flourishing and well-being of all living beings and the natural environment, and prompts people to use language that can inspire them to safeguard the planet instead of damaging it. Stibbe (2015) uses exclamation marks after his ecosophy to emphasize the importance and the urgency of this value (Al-Shboul, 2023). This ecosophy consists of seven related principles: Valuing living, Wellbeing, Now and the Future, Care, Environmental Limit, Resilience, and Social Justice (Stibbe, 2015).

Stibbe’s ecosophy also involves exploring the stories we live by, which are the cognitive structures that shape how we think, communicate, and act in relation to the natural world. He identifies different types of stories, such as ideology, evaluation, erasure, salience, identity, narrative, framing, and metaphor, and shows how they can promote or hinder the goal of Living! (Stibbe, 2015).

3. Method

The data of the research was taken from Petualangan si Kancil [the Adventures of the Mouse-deer], considered as an official version of the mouse-deer folktales published by the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia (Suharto, 2002). Moreover, the book also adapts stories from Serat Kancil by Kyai Rangga Amongsastra and Pangeran Arya Sasraningrat. The book has five stories: (1) Kotak Ajaib [The Magic Box], (2) Ikat Pinggang Raja [The Belt of the King], (3) Buaya Serakah [The Greedy Crocodile], (4) Jembatan Berduri [The Spiked Bridge], and (5) Raja Palsu [The Fake King].

The paper uses ecological discourse analysis as a method to examine the ideology behind the stories. Ecological discourse analysis is based on Critical Discourse Analysis, a movement of scholars who study how language shapes and reflects power relations in society. It is an interdisciplinary approach and can use different methods, such as looking at word choice, sentence structure, meaning, speech acts, pragmatics, style, rhetoric, or other aspects of language (Van Dijk, 2015). Moreover, Critical Discourse Analysis techniques examine the social and cultural contexts and practices that shape spoken and written language use (Fairclough, 2013). Therefore, the ideology of discourse in this paper is verified using Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework. This framework includes text analysis, which is the analysis of the language in spoken or written discourse; discourse practice analysis, which is the analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of text; and social practice analysis, which is the analysis of the social and ideological practices that the discourse produces or challenges (Fairclough, 2013).

The process of analyzing data involves close reading, closely examining a subset of data that contains environmental values. Moreover, text analysis is looking for words and phrases that convey the discourse’s attitude or tones. In order to gather words that convey the tone of the text, the research thus concentrates on linguistic items such as sentences, phrases or words in the text. The investigation also looks at a reader’s inclusion or exclusion from a community. For example, the study looks at how the text makes readers feel included and understood by using certain words and phrases, or how the text alienates readers by employing concepts they are unfamiliar with.

Fairclough and Wodak (1997) argue that analyzing texts alone is insufficient to comprehend the production of ideologies, as discourse practice is also a crucial factor. Text production and consumption make up this framework’s second dimension. Textual production refers to the process of creating a text, encompassing its authorship, format, historical and cultural background, and other elements. Text consumption takes into account the format of the text—print, audio, or video—as well as the audience that can access it—subscribers, members, or broader audiences.

Finally, because CDA aims to uncover hidden power dynamics, the analysis requires consideration of the power and social contexts or social practices (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997). Firstly, the analysis looks for cues of social and cultural processes. Secondly, the examination also establishes if a culture or a subculture adheres to norms. Certain customs and conventions that are exclusive to a smaller cultural practice are known as subcultures. The examination also looks at how cultural norms are applied internationally or across national borders.

The ideology of the discourse obtained from the three-dimensional analysis is then contrasted with the Environmental Ethics of Attfield (2014) and the ecosophy of Living! of Stibbe to perform the ecological discourse analysis. This is done to verify whether the ideology is beneficial or detrimental to nature. The ecosophy of ‘Living!’ consists of valuing living, well-being, now and the future, care, environmental limit, resilience, and social justice (Stibbe, 2015). Three types of discourse are reflected in the findings. Discourse that promotes the ideals and principles of ecosophy and works to preserve and restore the natural environment is known as eco-beneficial discourse. Metaphors, narratives, assessments, and framing are just a few of the linguistic strategies that eco-beneficial discourse can employ to instill good associations and meanings with environment and ecological challenges. Conversely, eco-destructive discourse challenges the principles and standards of ecosophy and aids in the exploitation and deterioration of the natural environment. In order to generate unfavorable meanings and associations with nature and ecological issues, or to defend damaging acts and policies, eco-destructive discourse can employ a variety of language methods, including metaphors, narratives, evaluations, and framing. On the other hand, the intricacy and variety of ecological circumstances, as well as the purposeful or accidental application of language strategies that are contradictory or inconsistent, can lead to eco-ambivalent discourse (Cheng, 2022; Stibbe, 2015).

4. Findings and discussion

Text analysis shows exploitation of human toward an In the Magic Box, humans are depicted as exploiting wild animals by using traps to poach them. The traps can be torturous for them, causing prolonged and intense pain.

1. Terkejut bukan main dia waktu terbangun. Tubuhnya hampir saja terendam air. Hujan begitu derasnya.

   [He was shocked when he woke up. His body was almost submerged in water. The rain was so heavy.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p. 4).

2. Hujan deras kemarin menyisakan tanah becek. Harimau duduk di pojok perangkapnya. Dengan pandangan kosong, harimau melihat pemandangan di luar perangkap.

   [Yesterday’s heavy rain left the ground muddy. The tiger sits in the corner of his trap. With a blank look, the tiger looks at the scene outside the trap.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p. 6).

   As shown in examples (1) and (2), the tiger spent the night submerged in the muddy water of the trap due to the heavy rain in the jungle. The tiger was so shocked by the ordeal that it became numb and unresponsive in the trap. The human who designed this trap did not care about the animal’s welfare. They only wanted to capture the animals in the jungle for their own profit.

   The diction used in examples (1) and (2) shows the cruelty of the trap set up by humans. The verb phrase terendam air [submerged in water], and noun phrase tanah becek [muddy ground] show the poor condition of the trap. The condition of the trap causes the tiger to suffer as indicated by the noun phrase pandangan kosong [blank look] of the tiger.

   The Belt of the King also portrays human attitude towards animals negatively. In Kancil’s made up story for the tiger, he says that the King would punish Kancil for a mere reason of daring to see him from the bushes.

3. Kemarin waktu aku berjalan-jalan di tempat ini, tiba-tiba aku dikejutkan oleh suara gaduh. Rupanya rombongan kerajaan berkenan lewat hutan ini. Itu kuketahui setelah aku mengintip sumber suara itu. Sayang, perbuatanku diketahui oleh salah satu pengawal. Aku dituduh akan mencelakakan raja dan diseret ke hadapan raja.

   [Yesterday when I was walking around, I was suddenly startled by a loud noise. Apparently, the royal entourage passed through this forest. I knew that after I peeked at the source of the sound. Unfortunately, I was caught by one of the bodyguards. I was accused of wanting to harm the king and then dragged before him.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p. 20).

   Example (3) shows diction that indicates human cruelty toward innocent animals with two verb phrases, dituduh akan mencelakakan raja [accused of wanting to harm the king], and diseret ke hadapan raja [dragged before the king]. The verb phrases show the possible cruelties that animals might face if they come across the king’s entourage.

   The Greedy Crocodile further depicts the cruelty of humans towards animals. Upon seeing Kancil and the crocodile in the village, they prepared their weapons to kill them.

4. Hei itu kancil, kancil. Tangkap, tangkap. Dialah yang suka mencuri ketimun kita. Tangkap, tangkap, ayo.

   [Hey it’s a mouse-deer, a mouse-deer. Get it! Get it! It likes to steal our cucumbers. Catch it, come on.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p. 34).

5. Itu buaya, hei, buaya. Awas,buaya! Tangkap saja Ayo, ayo tangkap. Ambil kayu! Ambil batu besar. Ambil tombak!

   [It’s a crocodile, hey, a crocodile. Watch out, a crocodile! Just get it. Come on, let’s catch it. Get some wood! Get some boulders. Get some spears!].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p. 34).

   The villagers in examples (4) and (5) wanted to harm and kill the mouse-deer and the crocodile for entering their village. This can be observed by the following choices of verb phrases: tangkap [catch it], ambil kayu [get some wood], ambil batu besar [get some boulders], and ambil tombak [get some spears]. The villagers encouraged one another to get weapons to attack the animals wandering into their settlement. All the weapons have the potential to inflict serious injuries on the animals, or worse, kill them.

   The Fake King emphasizes the domination of men toward animals. The monkey claims to be appointed by a human king to rule the jungle. As the king of the jungle, the monkey demands service and respect from his fellow animals.

6. Ini surat pengangkatanmu sebagai raja di tempatmu. Dengan berbekal surat ini resmilah engkau menjadi raja di tempatmu. Sebagai raja, kau boleh seperti aku, dilayani dan dihormati rakyatmu.

   [Here is your appointment letter as a king in your area. Armed with this letter, you officially become a king in your area. As a king, you may act like me, being served and respected by your people.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p. 48).

   The domination of men toward animals is shown in the clause kau boleh seperti aku [you may act like me], and the verb phrase dilayani dan dihormati rakyatmu [being served and respected by your people]. The clause ‘you may act like me’ shows that the wild animals should show their subservience to the monkey who acts as the representative of a human king. Accordingly, the verb phrase ‘being served and respected by your people’ shows that the wild animals are expected to obey the monkey’s authority.

   The wild animals often try to deceive or exploit their fellow creatures. For example, in The Magic Box, the deer rescued the tiger from a human trap, but the tiger lied to him.

7. Harimau melepaskan gigitannya dan mencengkeram rusa dengan kuku-kukunya, kemudian menjawab.

   [The tiger stopped biting the deer and instead held the deer with his claws, and answered.].

   ‘Sudahlah jangan banyak bicara. Perutku sudah lapar ini.’

   [No more talking. I am so hungry.].

   ‘Kau tak boleh memangsaku karena aku harus menolongmu keluar dari perangkap. Mana balas budimu?’ kata Rusa dengan suara mengibakan.

   [You cannot eat me since I just rescued you from a trap. Where is your gratitude? The deer pleaded sadly.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, pp. 9-10).

   The sentences ‘He held the deer with his claws’ and ‘You cannot eat me’ show that the tiger intends to eat the deer. This is despite the deer saving the tiger from a trap earlier, as indicated by the sentence ‘I just rescued you from a trap’. In short, the author depicts some predators in the jungle as being ready to trap and harm other animals, just like what humans are known to do.

   In The Greedy Crocodile, the crocodile greedily thought of eating the mouse-deer and his entire family.

8. Mendengar itu, buaya senang sekali. Terbayang olehnya tiga ekor kancil akan segera menghuni perutnya.

   [Upon listening to the mouse-deer, the crocodile was ecstatic. He imagined the three little mouse-deer in his belly.].

   ‘Kalau begitu, mari kita jemput anak dan istrimu.’

   [Come on, let us get your wife and child.].

   Kancil pura-pura terkejut.

   [The mouse-deer pretended to be surprised.].

   ‘Jadi kau ingin memangsa aku dan keluargaku?’.

   [So, you want to devour my family and I?].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p 29).

   The sentence ‘He imagined the three little mouse-deer in his belly’ reveals that the crocodile has no mercy for the mouse-deer and even plans to devour his entire family.

   In The Fake King, the monkey appointed himself as the king of the jungle, living lavishly at the expenses of his fellow animals.

9. Tercapailah impian monyet, untuk makan buah-buahan tanpa harus mencarinya sendiri. Setiap hari berbagai macam buah tersaji di hadapannya, mulai dari pisang, apel, sampai anggur.

   [The monkey’s dream has come true. He doesn’t have to lift a finger to look for food. Animals served various fruits for him, such as bananas, apples, and grapes.].

   (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p 49).

   The sentence ‘Animals served various fruits for him’ shows that the monkey exploited the other animals by providing him with fresh food for free.

   Text analysis also shows how the text displays the animals as social actors. As a fable, The Adventures of the Mouse-Deer presents the animal as the agent or the actor of the sentences. Hence, the text includes the stories of wild animals exploited by humans or other animals, which negatively influences their welfare.

10. ‘Uh aku ingat sekarang, aku di dalam kotak kayu.’

    [Uh I remember now; I was in a wooden box.].

    ‘Mana lubang yang menganga kemarin itu? Aku harus cepat-cepat pergi dari sini.’

    [Where was the gaping hole yesterday? I have to leave this place quickly.].

    ‘Kalau tidak hujan jahat ini akan membunuhku.’

    [Otherwise, this evil rain will kill me.].

    (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p 4).

    In (10), the tiger is the agent or the actor of the sentence or the social entity represented in a text as performing an action or being involved in a process. We can observe this by the use of the first pronoun ‘I’ by the tiger. As an actor, the tiger can remember, leave a place and complain about the rain in the story. With this strategy, the author includes the readers in the story and brings them closer to the tiger. As a result, the readers can better understand and empathize with the plight of the wild animal.

    In sum, the text analysis reveals that humans and stronger or smarter animals dominate the weaker or less smart animals. For example, humans trap and harm animals, and animals also trick or harm their prey or their friends. This can be observed in the choices of sentences, clauses, phrases, or words indicating cruelty against animals, such as trapping them in an inhumane condition, attempting to maim or kill them, or tricking them into submission. It also shows the inclusion of readers, as shown by the animals using human pronouns to refer to themselves or others, which makes it easier for the readers to identify with the animals.

    Next, the discourse practice analysis on the consumption of the mouse-deer folktales suggests that the mouse-deer folktales have faced controversy. In 2010, the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) launched a campaign to ban the mouse-deer folktales, the most famous trickster fables or folktales in Indonesia, from the reading materials for young children in schools. In October 2010, the vice-chairman of the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Haryono Umar, along with the Indonesian Minister of Education, Mohammad Nuh, criticized the trickster stories of Kancil, especially Kancil Steals Cucumbers, for having a negative impact on Indonesian children. Umar claimed that the trickster stories of Kancil undermined the government’s efforts to educate people to fight against corruption, as they taught children to steal and manipulate (Nugraha et al., 2022).

    Discourse practice analysis also shows that mouse-deer stories in Indonesia often inspire violent words against the animal, such as to kill, to capture, or to show no mercy. This is reflected in the famous children’s song of The Naughty Mouse-deer composed by Indonesian renowned children song composer, Ibu Soed.

11. Si Kancil anak nakal.

    Suka mencuri timun.

    Ayo lekas ditangkap.

    Jangan diberi ampun.

    [The mouse-deer is a naughty kid.

    He likes to steal cucumbers.

    Let us catch him.

    Don’t show him any mercy].

    This song depicts the mouse-deer as a nuisance that steals vegetables and deserves harsh punishment as described in the sentence jangan diberi ampun [don’t show him any mercy].

    Accordingly, social practice analysis indicates that cruelty culture toward wild animals has become prevalent. The BBC.com reports that poaching for profit is the main cause of the Sumatran tiger’s decline, claiming up to 40 lives per year. This species is critically endangered, with only about 400 individuals left in the wild. Many Asian countries believe that tiger body parts have healing properties. Some poachers even harvested tiger fetuses, along with the fur of an adult tiger (BBC News, 2019, December 9). Human activities often pose a threat to the lives and well-being of animals. Wild animals often face cruelty and harm when they stray into human territories. A tragic example of this is the recent poisoning of a pregnant Sumatran elephant in Riau, Sumatra. The elephant had wandered into a plantation, where it was killed by an unknown substance. Sumatran elephants are one of the most endangered animals in the world, with only about 700 individuals left on the island of Sumatra (Tarigan, 2022, May 27). In addition, in 2018, an orangutan was shot 130 times, 90 of them in its head, after it wandered into a plantation. It was found alive but later died from its injuries (Heriyanto, 2018, July 18).

    Animals have the capacity to suffer just as humans do and that this shared capacity should entitle them to comparable consideration (Attfield, 2014). Hence, the story’s disregard for animal welfare contradicts the environmental ethics that advocate for ethical treatment of animals. The well-being and continuity of the entire ecosystems and the species within them are more valuable than the lives of individual organisms (Attfield, 2014). Therefore, human activities that aim to earn money or improve living standards should not endanger the existence of wild animals who play vital roles in the ecosystem. Hence, the actions of hunting and capturing wild animals in the story violate the environmentalist ethics that value the conservation of species and ecosystems.

    The three-dimensional analysis on The Adventures of the Mousedeer suggests that the narrative conveys a negative discourse of human domination and exploitation of animals, which has detrimental consequences for animal welfare and biodiversity conservation. Therefore, it appears that the story is incompatible with the ecosophy of Stibbe ‘Living!’, which among other things, promotes the well-being of humans and animals. It also contradicts Stibbe’s ecosophy of ‘Now and the Future’ because overexploitation of animals can lead to species endangerment or extinction, and impair the biodiversity and ecosystem.

    However, a closer text analysis reveals that the author empathizes with the animals’ plight and condemns the human exploitation of animals. The Adventures of the Mouse-deer advocates for animal welfare by depicting the grievances of an eagle and a horse against the way humans treat them.

12. Elang Hitam hinggap di dahan dan menjawab, ‘Begitulah hukum alam. Dulu aku membantu manusia menjaga sawahnya dari serbuan burung pipit yang suka makan padi. Tapi sekarang mereka malah memburu-buru aku.’

    [The Black Eagle landed on a branch and answered: That is how nature works. I was helping humans guard their rice fields from little birds who like to eat the rice. But now they hunt me.].

    (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p.11).

13. Jawaban kuda mirip dengan Elang Hitam.

    ‘Dulu waktu masih kuat, aku dipakai manusia mengangkat beban dan mengantar mereka bepergian ke tempat-tempat jauh. Setelah tua dan lemah, dicampakkannya aku. Beginilah hukum alam rupanya.’

    [The horse gave similar answers to the eagle: When I was young and strong, humans used me to carry heavy loads and to take them to faraway places. But they dumped me once I was old and frail. That is how nature works.].

    (The Adventures of the Mouse-deer, p.11).

    The author of the story seems to empathize with the animals’ suffering and to oppose the human exploitation of animals. He also expresses concern for the animals’ welfare. Moreover, the author tries to convey the grievances of the black eagle and the horse against the humans who are ungrateful for their services in examples (12) and (13) by using choices of words such as: setelah tua dan lemah, dicampakkannya aku [once I am old and frail, they dumped me].

    Discourse practice analysis shows that readers can interpret the folktales differently. As an example, PandanganJogjaCom (2020) considers Kancil to have the qualities of a Javanese knight, who is small in size but shows wisdom and wit. PandanganJogjaCom (2020) also argues that Ibu Soed, the author of the Naughty Mouse-Deer song, did not understand the Adventures of the Mouse-deer well and therefore wrote a song that gave Kancil and the Javanese a bad reputation, since Kancil came from the Javanese folktale Serat Kancil. According to Fairclough (2013), a text can have different interpretations for different audiences. This aligns with our findings.

    Social practice analysis shows that some efforts have been made to depict Kancil more favorably. The late Ki Ledjar Subroto, a famous dalang [shadow puppet performer] from Yogyakarta, Central Java, created Wayang Kancil [mouse-deer shadow puppet] for children. He wrote stories of Kancil as a wild animal who had to search for food in human lands because his home was ravaged by humans. Subroto’s favorite story to perform was Kancil, The Thief of the Cucumber. In the story, Kancil had to steal cucumbers from a human farm, because his habitat had been destroyed by human activities and there was not enough food in the jungle. The humans caught Kancil red-handed and locked him up in a cage. But Kancil was clever and used his wit to escape from the cage (Agapetus, 2019). Subroto wanted to show through his stories that Kancil was not a thief, but a victim of environmental destruction caused by humans. Subroto devoted his life to promoting and performing Wayang Kancil until he passed away in 2017 and one of his missions was to restore the reputation of Kancil in the public eye (Agapetus, 2019).

Therefore, mouse-deer folktales including The Adventures of the Mouse-deer are also in line with environmental ethics, since they show the impact of human intervention in the jungle on the welfare of wild animals. Kancil stories traditionally portray Kancil as a trickster who often clashes with farmers or villagers. He had lost his food source and therefore had to risk his life by venturing into human settlements to feed himself. They reflect the environmental ethic that humans should minimize their interference in nature for the benefit of wildlife (Attfield, 2014).

Moreover, The Adventures of the Mouse-deer also demonstrate that he is important and valuable despite his small size, because he can outsmart bigger animals. In nature, mouse-deer play a vital role in the ecosystem as seed dispersers. They mainly feed on fruits and small plants (Matsubayashi et al., 2003). By consuming fruits, they help spread the seeds of trees and other vegetation, ensuring the balance and sustainability of the forest environment. This is consistent with environmental ethics, which holds that the well-being of the ecosystem and all its species are equally important (Attfield, 2014). Therefore, human activities for commercial purposes should take into account the welfare and safety of wildlife, especially species that have a significant role in the ecosystem such as Kancil.

As a result, the expansion of human settlements or plantations should be done cautiously to avoid disturbing or destroying the habitat of wild animals. Such careless behavior will only drive animals to invade human areas for food and conflict with humans, which often results in the trapping or killing of the animals portrayed in The Adventures of the Mouse-deer. The depiction of the animals in The Adventures of the Mouse-deer can expose child readers to the plight of animals under human domination, which is consistent with the environmental ethics that advocate ethical treatment of animals (Attfield, 2014). They can also teach children to care for the environment from an early age. For instance, Musthofa and Koentjoro (2019) conducted action research with pre-school children in Yogyakarta using Wayang Kancil to reduce littering, which can help solve the waste problems in the city.

In conclusion, a close reading of The Adventures of the Mouse-deer reveals that the story is eco-ambivalent since it contains both eco-beneficial and eco-destructive elements. The story depicts unethical treatments of humans such as trapping, harming, and exploiting animals. On the other hand, it also shows sympathy to the suffering of the wild animals due to the exploitation by humans. Hence it can be used to foster an early environmental awareness for young children as long as the story emphasizes the struggle of Kancil and other wild animals due to exploitation and unethical treatments by humans.

5. Conclusions

This paper examines whether a version of the mouse-deer folktales, the Adventures of the Mouse-deer, adhere to the environmental ethics and ecosophy, since they have the potential to educate children about human intervention and its consequences on animal welfare. The author argues that the story is eco-ambivalent, which portrays both positive and negative discourse towards animal welfare and ethical treatment of animals. However, the story has the potential to foster early environmental awareness for young children when the emphasis is put on the struggle of wild animals due to exploitation and unethical treatment of humans. Using popular children’s folktales to raise environmental and biodiversity awareness from an early age is a strategy that should be considered for future conservation efforts. This could help protect vulnerable species such as the mouse-deer and ensure their survival and well-being in the ecosystem.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the colleagues from the Faculty of Cultural Studies of Universitas Brawijaya, for their support during the completion of this research. I also thank Dr. Nurenzia Yannuar who generously shared her expertise and insights that greatly improved the quality of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ika Nurhayani

Ika Nurhayani is an assistant professor at Universitas Brawijaya (Indonesia), where she teaches linguistics at the undergraduate and master levels. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics from Cornell University (USA). She is also a children’s book author and has written four children’s books. Copies of her books were donated to students in kindergarten and elementary schools in Yogyakarta and Malang (Java, Indonesia). Recently, she also organized a story-telling event based on her book at an elementary school in Malang. Her research interest is in interdisciplinary linguistics, which combines linguistics with other fields in humanity such as literature, sociology, anthropology, and environmental studies. The current research is her first project, which combines literature with ecological discourse analysis. She will continue her project with similar studies of regional Indonesian folktales.