Tristan Rokhmawan, Djoko Saryono, Yuni Patiwi
This study proposes a practice-led model for examining how Indonesian oral folklore is transformed within contemporary creative practices. Drawing on interpretive mapping of a corpus of approximately 160 folklore-based creative works analyzed using NVivo, the research identifies five key dimensions shaping folkloric transformation: hypogram (folkloric source), media of transformation, narrative segmentation, interpretive strategies, and creative cycles. These dimensions demonstrate that contemporary adaptations of folklore do not emerge as isolated acts of creativity but are produced through negotiated interactions among cultural memory, media affordances, symbolic reinterpretation, and creative temporality. To explain how these interactions operate within creative practice, the study develops a seven-stage transformational model—exploration, formulation, inquiry, reflection, production, validation, and dissemination or reproduction—adapted from the Iterative Cyclic Web framework of practice-led research. The model conceptualizes folklore transformation as a recursive and culturally embedded process, emphasizing iterative movement between creative decision-making, material experimentation, and cultural accountability. Rather than treating creativity as a linear or purely cognitive sequence, the proposed framework foregrounds cycles of reflection, validation, and regeneration that sustain the continued life of folklore across media environments. Methodologically, the study integrates empirical pattern mapping with creative-practice epistemology, positioning creative artefacts as both analytical objects and sources of knowledge. This approach enables the identification of structural regularities across diverse creative domains, including literary, visual, performative, spatial, and digital media. The findings suggest that oral folklore functions as a dynamic cultural resource that continually generates new meanings through creative agency while remaining embedded in processes of cultural negotiation and continuity. By offering a domain-specific and analytically grounded model, this study contributes to folklore studies, creative practice research, and interdisciplinary discussions on the transformation of cultural heritage in contemporary contexts. © Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Department of Indonesian Language Education, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang, Indonesia; Department of Indonesian Language Education, Faculty of Pedagogy & Psychology, PGRI Wiranegara University, Indonesia
