Storied Island

Ronit Ricci (PhD in Comparative Literature, University of Michigan 2006) is Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is also affiliated with the Australian National University. She has published widely on Javanese and Malay manuscript cultures, the Sri Lanka Malays, translation, and exile in colonial Asia. She is currently leading the ERC-funded project Textual Microcosms: A New Approach in Translation Studies, focused on interlinear translations from the Indonesian-Malay world.

“Each chapter of this book is a call to action. They prove beyond any doubt that in-depth study of manuscript texts is essential to understanding Javanese culture and that the investment of time and effort in doing so will be rewarded many times over. These texts help us to challenge the tired old generalizations that have spread from outdated scholarship to shape popular notions about Javanese culture. They compel us to think more expansively about what a text is and to start describing in detail how variant versions of similar stories are intertwined to form complex traditions like the Centhini, the Ambiya, or the Panji tales.”– Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan, Southeast Asia Research, 32.2 (July 2024)"The collection of essays in Storied Islands provides readers with an excellent introduction to the history of Javanese literary production between the sixteenth and the first half of the twentieth century. Readers are introduced to an impressive variety of literary works and genres. The authors place the literary works they discuss in the broader context of Java’s social and religious history, providing readers with insight into aspects of Islamic thought and practice in the period. "– Peter Worsley, H-Asia, H-Net Reviews (December 2024)

• Notes on ContributorsAcknowledgmentsList of Figures and MapsA Note on Orthography and TransliterationAbbreviationsIntroductionRonit Ricci1 Rediscovering Islam in Javanese HistoryM.C. Ricklefs2 Stepping on a Wulu: Minor Characters and Narrative Possibilities in the Sĕrat CĕnthiniTony Day3 Better to Touch the Heart: Performing Sufi Songs (Suluk) in the Sĕrat CĕnthiniNancy K. Florida4 The Hamza Affect: Feeling as a Moving Force in the Asian-Islamic EpicBernard Arps5 Sunan Bonang’s Teaching: Ethical Sufism in Sixteenth-Century JavaYumi Sugahara6 Situated Prophethood: Reading the Serat Ambiya in Nineteenth-Century JavaRonit Ricci7 Where Is Mecca? Or, Map and Territory: Reflections from JavaVerena Meyer8 Words of Power and Wisdom: Credible Authorities and Reliable Sources in the Sĕrat Nitik Sultan AgungEls Bogaerts9 On the Wrong Side of HistoryKey Episodes in the Sĕrat Rama and the Panji PanibaWillem van der Molen10 Rethinking Categorization in Javanese Literary History: Some Reflections on a Fin-de-Siècle Memoir by Raden SasrakusumaEdwin P. WieringaGlossaryIndex