Title from PDF title page (viewed July 17, 2008).

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral-Australian National University, 2003).

1. Introduction -- Custom: Tali Paranti -- Going to Pamijahan -- Signs -- Narratives -- Research Questions -- Volume Structure -- 2. Signs in the Valley -- 3. Manuscripts in Pamijahan: Kakantun Karuhun -- A Shattariyyah Manuscript (ms. A) -- A Shattariyyah Manuscript (ms. B) -- A Shattariyyah Manuscript (ms. C) -- A Shattariyyah Manuscript (ms. D) -- Kitab Istiqal Tarekat Qadiriyyah-Naqhsabandiyyah (ms. E) -- A Shattariyyah Manuscript (ms. F) -- Babad Pamijahan (Ms. G) -- Babad Pamijahan (Ms. H) -- 4. The Babad Pamijahan: Sunda, Java and the Identity of the Pamijahanese -- The Babad in Sunda -- The Babad Pamijahan (BP) -- Translation of The Babad Pamijahan (Ms H) -- The Structure of the Babad -- The Narrative of East and West -- The Horizontal Axis -- The Vertical Axis -- Saur Sepuh or 'What the Ancestors Say ... ' -- The References -- Space and Place: Limestone (Karang) -- The Interpretant: The East and The West -- Sumedang and Mataram -- 5. Karuhun, Space, Place and Narratives -- Karuhun -- The Sacred Landscape of Pamijahan and its Environs -- Four Symbolic Spaces -- Kokocoran and the Notion of Proximity -- The Places -- Mystical Paths -- Conclusion: The Growing Signs -- 6. Linking to the Wider Worlds of Sufism -- The Roots of Shattariyyah -- The Shattariyyah Order in the World of Islam -- The Shattariyyah Silsilah in Indonesia -- The Shattariyyah Silsilah in West Java -- Shaykh Abdul Muhyi -- The Successors -- 7. Grasping the Wali's Teaching -- Origins of Shattariyyah Teaching -- Martabat Tujuh or The Seven Grades -- 8. Tapping A Blessing in The House of A Young Sufi -- Introduction -- Holding the Line, Grasping the Blessing -- The Zawiya -- The Communal Congregation -- The Baiah Session -- The Shattariyyah Dikir -- Conclusion: Telling Stories, Taking Precedence -- Pilgrimage at Pamijahan: Practice and Narrative -- Mediation or Approach -- Custodianship -- Pilgrims -- The sequence of rituals -- The Prescribed Sequences -- Conclusion.

"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.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-217).

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