White Snakes, Black Snakes, and Indonesia in the Global Network of Chinese Narratives

This article explores the adaptation and indigenization of the Chinese White Snake narrative in Indonesia. While Liang Luo’s work has mapped the story’s transformations across East Asian and Anglophone contexts, this study highlights Indonesia’s significant role as transformer of Chinese cultural narratives such as White Snake. Tracing the White Snake story in the archipelago from the late nineteenth century, the article examines early Malay translations in Indonesia as well as the narrative’s migration into Indonesian popular culture through print, stage, and cinema. By situating the White Snake legend within the broader context not only of Sino-Indonesian culture but also of global reception of Chinese narratives, the article underscores Indonesia’s creative agency and challenges the marginalization of Southeast Asian adaptation in accounts of Chinese culture as a global phenomenon.