International Society of communication and Development among universities www.europeansp.org Modern Language Studies, ISSN: 0047-7729 Empowering Girls, Educating Boys: Rara Janitra and Indonesian Folktale Reconstruction Clara Evi Citraningtyas* Universitas Pelita Harapan, Lippo Village, Tangerang, Indonesia Abstract It has been widely known that stories for children are never simple stories. They are not just simple stories to entertain. Children stories generally contain strong edifying elements to educate children. These elements are especially stronger in folktales than in other genres of children stories. Folktales are highly instructional that are geared to inform, to instruct and to prepare children to be acceptable and proper members of society. Unfortunately as societies change, a large number of folktales remain unchanged. This concern is especially true in Indonesia’s case. Although many of the country’s folktales contain useful teachings for children, not all of them contain teachings that are relevant to today’s values, and a number even contain teachings that are not positively constructive. This paper discusses Rara Janitra, a reconstruction or modern retelling of an old Indonesian folktale titled Rara Jonggrang. The discussion is mainly on how Rara Janitra can be a more constructive version for Indonesia’s new generation to empower Indonesian girls and to educate Indonesian boys. Keywords: children literature; Indonesian folktale; reconstruction. © 2016 The Authors. Published by European Science publishing Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of European Science publishing Ltd.