ABSTRACT
The territory of Indonesia is inseparable from the historical knowledge of a territorial concept of Nusantara. The concept of Nusantara itself refers to the territory in the reign of the Majapahit Kingdom. The myth saying that the territory of Nusantara is the territory of Indonesia in ancient times continues to grow. In this study, we aimed to reveal what is behind the myth of Nusantara. By utilising the mythology theory of Roland Barthes, this study focused on the following two aspects: (1) how the construction of the myth of Nusantara was formed and (2) the myth demystification and its meaning. This myth emerged in some Javanese manuscripts, particularly Pararaton and Negarakretagama. This myth continued to spread until the period of the Indonesian National Revolution, which represented Nusantara as the historical background of Indonesia. The new meaning emerged from the term Nusantara as the territory of Indonesia to unify the Indonesian society with nationalist ideology.
