Signs of the Wali: Narratives at the Sacred Sites in Pamijahan, West Java"This thesis is a study of traditional narratives which are recited and received both by villagers and pilgrims in regard to the local pilgrimage (ziarah) tradition in Pamijahan, particularly at Shaykh Abdul Muhyi's sacred site. The narratives will be examined as part of the popular beliefs of Priangan Timur or the eastern part of West Java. Locating them in the wider context of Sundanese oral and written traditions, my investigation will illuminate the nature and function of such traditions in the particular case of Pamijahan. The research will elucidate the role of the kuncen, the custodians of sacred sites, as guides and spiritual brokers who maintain the narratives. It will also be important to investigate the villagers' as well as visitors' view of the kuncen in regard to local pilgrimage. The study will also enhance comparative studies concerned with networks of holy men or saints (wali) on the island of Java (Pemberton 1994; Fox 1991: 20). I want to argue that people respond to, and participate in, saint veneration on pragmatic grounds. However, these grounds are subject to interpretation and contestation in time and space. In redefining their narratives, various individuals, such as custodians, Sufis, and even to some extent government functionaries, are considered to be authoritative persons by virtue of their capacity to conduct and manipulate narratives. As this argument develops, it will be important to understand the modes of signification in the village."--Provided by publisher. |
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Signs of the Wali: Narratives at the Sacred Sites in Pamijahan, West Java Tommy Christomy No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Abd al-Rauf According Ajengan Endang Al-Fatiha alam Allah ancestors Babad Pamijahan barakah Beben Muhammad Dabas Bengkok blessing called cave Chapter Cirebon concept culture custodian Desa Pamijahan dikir followers genealogy Giri hadiyah Haji Abdul Muhyi holy ibadah ijazah important Indonesia interpretation Islam Jakarta Javanese kabuyutan Kampung Kangjeng Shaykh Karang karuhun khataman Kiai Kitab kuncen Makom martabat master Mataram Mecca metaphor mosque Muhammad Muslim mystical journey narratives pakuncenan Pamijahanese Panyalahan Parmentier perform pesantren pilgrimage pilgrims pongpok prayers Prophet Qadiriyyah Raden Wiracandra recite recognised refer relation Rinkes ritual sacred sites Safarwadi sastra Sejarah semiotics Shattariyyah Shattariyyah manuscripts Shattariyyah order Shaykh Abdul Muhyi Shaykh Haji Abdul shrine signs silsilah space spirit structure Sufi Sufi orders Sufism Sukapura Sumedang Sunan Sunan Giri Sundanese Syekh symbolic tali paranti tarekat Tasikmalaya tawassul teaching tomb tradition ulama urang various village visitors Wali Wali Sanga Wali’s West Java wujud zawiya ziarah
Popular passages
Page 89 - A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. That sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the first sign.
Page 158 - Remember We made the House a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the Station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Ishmael, that they should sanctify my House for those who compass it round, or use it as a retreat, or bow, or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer...
Page 160 - Oh ye who believe ! Do your duty to God, seek the means of approach unto Him...
Page 8 - a direct expression of the structure of the mind (and behind the mind, probably of the brain)"— then this may well be the way to build it. For what Lévi-Strauss has made for himself is an infernal culture machine. It annuls history, reduces sentiment to a shadow of the intellect, and replaces the particular minds of particular savages in particular jungles with the Savage Mind immanent in us all.
Page 141 - Have we not lifted up your heart and relieved you of the burden which weighed down your back ? Have we not given you high renown?
Page 141 - Allah is one, the eternal God. He begot none, nor was He begotten. None is equal to Him or like Him
Page 50 - But these sequences are organized, on planes at different levels (of abstraction), in accordance with schemata, which exist simultaneously, superimposed one upon another; just as a melody composed for several voices is held within bounds by constraints in two dimensions, first by its own melodic line which is horizontal, and second by the contrapuntal schemata (settings) which are vertical.
Page 50 - ... visit to heaven, his successive marriages, his hunting and fishing expeditions, his quarrels with his brothers-in-law, and so forth. But these sequences are organized on planes at different levels of abstraction in accordance with schemata, which exist simultaneously, superimposed one upon the other; just as a melody composed for several voices is held within bounds by two-dimensional constraints: first by its own melodic line, which is horizontal, and second by the contrapuntal schemata, which...
Page 141 - When Allah's help and victory come, and you see men embrace His religion in multitudes, celebrate the praise of your Lord and seek His pardon. He is ever disposed to mercy.
Page 50 - ... things happen: the meeting of the two women, the intervention of the supernatural protector, the birth of Asdiwal, his childhood, his visit to heaven, his successive marriages, his hunting and fishing expeditions, his quarrels with his brothers-in-law, and so forth. But these sequences are organized on planes at different levels of abstraction in accordance with schemata, which exist simultaneously, superimposed one upon the other; just as a melody composed for several voices is held within bounds...