The special youngest sibling among seven siblings: A structural comparative literary study of Jaka Tarub and the Seven Nymphs and Putri Gading Cempaka

This study compares the narrative structure of the Javanese folktale Jaka Tarub and the Seven Nymphs with the Bengkulu folktale Putri Gading Cempaka, both of which share the motif of a youngest sibling among seven siblings as the central figure. Using a descriptive qualitative method with a structural comparative literature approach, this study analyzes the narrative functions of both stories through Vladimir Propp's morphology of the folktale and compares their plot, character and characterization, and setting. Data sources are the commonly circulated version of Jaka Tarub and the adapted text of Putri Gading Cempaka by S. Amran Tasai. The results show that Jaka Tarub realizes around eleven of Propp's functions with a central pattern of interdiction and violation, while Putri Gading Cempaka realizes around fifteen functions with a central pattern of villainy, rescue, and wedding. Both stories converge on the youngest female sibling's position among seven siblings and on resolution through marriage, while differing in the youngest character's agency and in social setting. This study fills a gap in prior research, which has not compared the two stories structurally, and argues that the special youngest sibling motif reflects both cultural diffusion and polygenesis.