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Calon arang: Kisah perempuan korban patriarki : prosa lirik

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First published in Indonesian in 2000, followed by this 2006 English edition in lyrical prose, Toeti Heraty, professor of philosophy at the University of Indonesia, retells the ancient story of the witch Calon Arang from 12th century Balinese and Javanese folklore.
Inspired by the work of photographer Rio Helmi who described Calon Arang as an old woman in sorrow, Heraty's version asks the 'Do you know what it means to be a widow, what it means to be old?'
Written at a time of massive changes in Indonesia, when gender roles and the disproportionate power of men were being questioned, Calong Arang explores the injustices inflicted upon women by relating the old story to the realities of modern society.

78 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

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About the author

Toeti Heraty

35 books13 followers
Toeti Heraty was born in 1933. An outstanding Indonesian poet with a powerful vision she is also a philosopher an art historian and a human rights activist well known for both her opposition to the Suharto regime and for her feminism.

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5 stars
17 (20%)
4 stars
29 (34%)
3 stars
31 (36%)
2 stars
6 (7%)
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2 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
2 reviews
May 31, 2015
Baik-buruk, hitam-putih, selalu ada dua sisi dari sebuah kisah. Dan paham tentang "kebenaran" tentu berbeda bagi setiap orang. Yang menurut orang lain benar, bisa jadi salah bagi kita, pun sebaliknya.

"Calon Arang : Kisah Perempuan Korban Patriarki" adalah penceritaan ulang kisah Calon Arang,yang dikenal luas di Indonesia, oleh Toeti Heraty, Namun dengan sudut pandang yang berbeda. Alih-alih menempatkan tokoh Calon Arang sebagai antagonis seperti kebanyakan dongeng-dongeng Calon Arang yang kita dengar semasa kecil, Toeti Heraty melihat dari sudut berbeda dan menempatkannya sebagai korban.

Dipaparkan dalam bentuk prosa lirik yang mengalir, buku ini tak hanya mengisahkan ulang kisah Calon Arang melalui perspektif yang berbeda, namun juga mengaitkan Calon Arang yang menjadi "korban" dengan wanita pada umumnya,menjadikannya representasi dari para wanita yang "tertindas" dan menjadi "korban", khususnya oleh kaum lelaki.

Direkomendasikan untuk : Feminist

Rating : 3/5
Profile Image for Rahma Maulidina.
21 reviews1 follower
April 28, 2025
In "Calon Arang" by Toeti Heraty, Seno Gumira Ajidarma said that Toeti Heraty admitted that she only knew humans as a whole through poetry. Reading the book in the form of lyrical prose made me understand the identity of women who are often marginalized in a patriarchal society.
Profile Image for Lisa.
3,810 reviews491 followers
January 19, 2020
Blaming women for anything that goes wrong has a long history. In Judeo-Christian cultures it goes right back to Eve being responsible for the Fall of Man, and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Not only does the God punish Eve more severely because she tempted Adam to disobey the command that forbade them to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil—he also sets her up to be under the patriarchal thumb for evermore:
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (King James Bible, Genesis 3:16)

In countless depictions of this allegory by artists, (see Albrecht Dürer's version) Eve is a saucy wench while Adam is depicted as a victim of her wiles.
In Greek mythology there is the story of Pandora whose curiosity led her to open a jar mistranslated, (according to Wikipedia) as a box by Erasmus in the 16th century), thereby releasing all the evils that beset humanity. When the Romans appropriated Greek mythology and made it their own, they appropriated Pandora too. So you only have to spend a cursory amount of time among Roman writers (or Robert Graves' I Claudius (1934) which I'm currently reading in a desultory sort of way) to find that women cause all the trouble — Livia Drusilla, for example, presiding as arch-villain over generations of Roman emperors, confirms the role of women as interfering, wilful, and handy with poison into the bargain.

From a feminist point-of-view, whenever people seek to vindicate God to answer the question of why a good God permits evil, (theodicy) women are at fault. Both Eve and Pandora were the first women on Earth; and each is condemned for provoking the transition from a paradise of plenty and ease in eternity to a life of suffering, struggle and death. Human misery is the punishment for woman's transgression of divine law, and you can see all kinds of depictions of her perfidy in any number of Renaissance artworks. All our fairy tales from the Snow Queen to Cinderella to the Sleeping Beauty show any woman with power to be misusing it, and the only way any other kind of woman can triumph is through the power of loving kindness. (And then all she gets as a reward is some prince lording it over her instead). In the Middle Ages, any woman who knew anything about herbalism was promptly burned as a witch if anything terrible happened, and the modern tragedy of burning and disfiguring women in places like India is just one example for how blaming the woman persists to the present day.
So it comes as no surprise to find that there is a version of Blame the Woman from 12th Balinese and Javanese folklore. Wikipedia tells us that Calon Arang was a witch and a master of black magic.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/01/19/c...
Profile Image for Sri.
897 reviews38 followers
February 2, 2021
Kesan pertama: kenapa versi Bahasa Inggris duluan baru versi Bahasa Indonesia? Jika karya aslinya memang dalam Bahasa Inggris, maka ku selow.
Jadi, kaum perempuan sejak kapan tau susah bersatu padu, karena ada hasrat menjadi primadona.
Judulnya memang “Korban Patriarki”, tapi yang turut serta melestarikan patriarki ya perempuan juga. Penginnya kesetaraan namun tetap minta perlindungan lagi-laki?
Maka Calon Arang mempraktekkan solidaritas sesama perempuan, demi anak perempuannya, dia memohon pada Dewi (perempuan) agar membantunya. Untuk apa? MAU MARAH. Lagian kita tak pernah tau asal muasal si janda tua seperti apa. Apa ya iya murkanya nenek sihir ini hanya karena Ratna Manggali tak laku-laku. Sesuatu yang nyaris mustahil, karena Ratna Manggali cantik jelita, dan kesanku: baik budi bahasa. Dalam bahasa patriarki, si gadis anak janda mengerikan ini sangat wife material. Nama pun laki-laki, separah apa pun calon bumer, toh dia akan merebut anak perempuannya juga.
Sungguh malang nasib Calon Arang. Perempuan mungkin memang susah bersatu padu. Bahkan ibu sendiri dikhianati. Demi siapa? Demi laki-laki. Demi kekuasaan.
Profile Image for Ossy Firstan.
Author 2 books103 followers
September 25, 2017
"Cinta, sebagai suatu ilusi -karena kecenderungan romantik- lalu dimuliakan ternyata jebakan biologi sebagai penerus jenis yang ia tidak sadari" (hal.11)

Buku ini cukup feminis, tidak hanya membahas calon Arang tapi juga perempuan di negeri ini bahkan sampai Keluarga Berencana. Kata-katanya cukup bikin jumpalitan.
1 review
Currently reading
December 7, 2019
intresting, i love the colosal story
Profile Image for Launa.
248 reviews51 followers
April 19, 2020
Delapan belas prosa lirik yang menyelami cinta dan kegeraman perempuan sebagai seorang ibu dan seorang janda. Paling suka prosa lirik Janda dengan Anak Gadis dan Hak Reproduksi. Boleh jadi karena saya perempuan sehingga dua prosa lirik tersebut terasa begitu personal. Membaca buku ini memberi saya perspektif lain tentang Calon Arang dan mengubah pandangan saya selepas membaca Cerita Calon Arang karya Pramoedya Ananta Toer pada 2016 lalu.
Profile Image for Louisa Olivia Hadiwirawan.
36 reviews13 followers
December 8, 2015
Di Lemah Tulis ia bertemu dng gurunya. Kitab segera diserahkan. Kagum Empu Baradah membaca kitab itu. Katanya: "Inilah kitab yg sgt luar biasa isinya. Hanya saja si Calon Arang salah mempergunakannya. Kalau digunakan utk maksud yg baik ia akan segera mendapat terima kasih beribu2 manusia. Sayang ia salah mempergunakan."
-Dongeng Calon Arang, PAT-

Dalam ilmu interpretasi yg disebut hermeneutik
interpretasi buku suci disebut exegesis-, tetapi
buku utk kebaikan ini -lihat cerita di atas-
sempat disalahgunakan shg bukannya
keselamatan manusia, tetapi malapetaka dibawa olehnya
sama saja bila kita dlm era reformasi
melihat terjadinya huru-hara, disulut dng
dalih agama yg berasal dr buku suci yg berbeda2
yg menyulutnya disbt provokator, yg ternyata
tdk ditangkap2 jg.
-Calon Arang, TH-

Reading two version of a story written by two different authors is like knowing two different perspectives. As Seno Gumira Ajidarma said, you don't look for the similarities nor the differences, you just read it as a full story.

In doing that, I can critically see the messages that the authors wanted to deliver.

Accompanied with:
Dongeng Calon Arang by Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Dongeng Calon Arang
Profile Image for Ramadhatil.
17 reviews1 follower
December 18, 2022
Sebuah cerita yang diceritakan ulang oleh Toeti Heraty dengan sudut pandang yang berbeda. Selain menempatkan Calon Arang sebagai "korban", penulis ini juga mengaitkan dengan wanita pada umumnya. Sebagai objek, korban, yang tertindas oleh kaum lelaki.

Diceritakan pada buku ini, perempuan mempunyai hasrat bersaing dengan sesama karena ingin menjadi paling primadona. Perempuan gampang terbuai karena ada perasaan "ingin dicintai". Cerita pengkhianatan pada ibu sendiri, karena terbuai dengan kata lelaki, suaminya sendiri. Perempuan memang susah bersatu, bahkan pada ibu sendiri. Demi lelaki, demi suami yang dicintai, dan demi kekuasaan.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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