National University of Singapore Press
World Making with Malay-Indonesian Manuscripts
Circulation, Contestation and Connection
9789813253322
Distributed for National University of Singapore Press
World Making with Malay-Indonesian Manuscripts
Circulation, Contestation and Connection
An innovative account of Malay-Indonesian manuscripts as dynamic agents of knowledge and cultural reinvention in the region.
What new framings emerge when we revisit the vibrant world of Malay-Indonesian manuscripts, looking beyond the boundaries imposed by colonial and nationalist scholarship? This volume revitalizes manuscript studies by using texts in entirely fresh ways, situating them as dynamic instruments of knowledge and cultural transformation. Through contextual readings, it uncovers multiple historical and cultural narratives within and between manuscripts, challenging established understandings of power, identity, and authorship. Chapters explore themes ranging from the origins of kingdoms and intellectual traditions to the reinvention of contemporary lives through politicized readings of older texts.
By foregrounding the diversity and versatility of Malay-Indonesian textual traditions, this book recenters manuscripts as vital agents in shaping Southeast Asian histories, decenters fixed notions of a singular “Malay” worldview, and reveals the fluidity of cultural memory across time and place.
What new framings emerge when we revisit the vibrant world of Malay-Indonesian manuscripts, looking beyond the boundaries imposed by colonial and nationalist scholarship? This volume revitalizes manuscript studies by using texts in entirely fresh ways, situating them as dynamic instruments of knowledge and cultural transformation. Through contextual readings, it uncovers multiple historical and cultural narratives within and between manuscripts, challenging established understandings of power, identity, and authorship. Chapters explore themes ranging from the origins of kingdoms and intellectual traditions to the reinvention of contemporary lives through politicized readings of older texts.
By foregrounding the diversity and versatility of Malay-Indonesian textual traditions, this book recenters manuscripts as vital agents in shaping Southeast Asian histories, decenters fixed notions of a singular “Malay” worldview, and reveals the fluidity of cultural memory across time and place.
360 pages | 15 halftones | 5.98 x 9.02 | © 2026
Asian Studies: Southeast Asia and Australia
History: Asian History
Literature and Literary Criticism: Asian Languages
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
List of Appendices
A Note on Malay Names
Introduction: World-making Through Malay-Indonesian Manuscripts
Part I: Origins and Connections
1. Conversions and Connections: Re-Tellings from Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai, Qissat Shakarwatt Farmad, and Tuhfat al-Mujahidin. (Sher Banu A.L. Khan)
2. Origins and Founders in Northwest Borneo: The Oral Intertextuality of Syair Awang Semaun and Related Stories. (Stephen Druce)
3. Raja Cempa in the Sejarah Melayu and the Dalukal of the Cham: Re-thinking Malay-Cham Historical Interactions. (Mohamed Effendy)
4. The World of Early 17th-century Aceh through the Lens of an old Malay Cosmogony. (Peter G. Riddell)
Part II: Sexuality, Gender, and Power
5. Mystical Syair and Worldly Pantun: Emotion, Passion, and Submission in Malay Love Verses. (Maznah Mohamad)
6. Queen Sheba and Narratives of Female Power in Malay Islamic Hagiography: Intertextual Study of Hikayat Puti Balqis Collection of Surau Simaung, West Sumatra. (Abdullah Maulani)
Part III: Legal Culture, Contracts, and Negotiation
7. Documents from the Royal Chancery of Aceh: Istimi in the 17th Century. (Annabel Teh Gallop)
8. Representing Social Actors in Hukum Kanun Brunei: A Critical Discourse Studies Perspective. (Siti Badriyah Haji Mohamad Yusof)
9. Surat Sungai: Plantations, Legal Documents, and Malay Writing Culture in Johor (c.1860-c.1920). (Elsa Clavé)
Part IV: Spirituality, Emotions, and Aesthetics
10. Crystal-Clear Knowledge, Flawless Deeds: The Exiled Cleric and Spiritual Genealogy of The Akmaliyyah Sufi Order (Tarekat) in 19th-Century Colonial Java. (Wahyu Widodo)
11. Plain Paper and Resplendent Cloth: A Malay Manuscript’s Imagining of Javanese Material Culture. (Mulaika Hijjas)
Part V: The Reinvention of Contemporary Life
12. Lontar Yusup as Living Manuscript: The Role of a Performative Text in Active Interpretation among the Osing Community. (Lilis Shofiyanti)
13. Epistemic Disobedience and Cultural Memories: Polemics of the Wangsakerta Manuscripts of Cirebon. (Siti Sarah Muwahidah)
Bibliography
Contributors
List of Figures
List of Appendices
A Note on Malay Names
Introduction: World-making Through Malay-Indonesian Manuscripts
Part I: Origins and Connections
1. Conversions and Connections: Re-Tellings from Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai, Qissat Shakarwatt Farmad, and Tuhfat al-Mujahidin. (Sher Banu A.L. Khan)
2. Origins and Founders in Northwest Borneo: The Oral Intertextuality of Syair Awang Semaun and Related Stories. (Stephen Druce)
3. Raja Cempa in the Sejarah Melayu and the Dalukal of the Cham: Re-thinking Malay-Cham Historical Interactions. (Mohamed Effendy)
4. The World of Early 17th-century Aceh through the Lens of an old Malay Cosmogony. (Peter G. Riddell)
Part II: Sexuality, Gender, and Power
5. Mystical Syair and Worldly Pantun: Emotion, Passion, and Submission in Malay Love Verses. (Maznah Mohamad)
6. Queen Sheba and Narratives of Female Power in Malay Islamic Hagiography: Intertextual Study of Hikayat Puti Balqis Collection of Surau Simaung, West Sumatra. (Abdullah Maulani)
Part III: Legal Culture, Contracts, and Negotiation
7. Documents from the Royal Chancery of Aceh: Istimi in the 17th Century. (Annabel Teh Gallop)
8. Representing Social Actors in Hukum Kanun Brunei: A Critical Discourse Studies Perspective. (Siti Badriyah Haji Mohamad Yusof)
9. Surat Sungai: Plantations, Legal Documents, and Malay Writing Culture in Johor (c.1860-c.1920). (Elsa Clavé)
Part IV: Spirituality, Emotions, and Aesthetics
10. Crystal-Clear Knowledge, Flawless Deeds: The Exiled Cleric and Spiritual Genealogy of The Akmaliyyah Sufi Order (Tarekat) in 19th-Century Colonial Java. (Wahyu Widodo)
11. Plain Paper and Resplendent Cloth: A Malay Manuscript’s Imagining of Javanese Material Culture. (Mulaika Hijjas)
Part V: The Reinvention of Contemporary Life
12. Lontar Yusup as Living Manuscript: The Role of a Performative Text in Active Interpretation among the Osing Community. (Lilis Shofiyanti)
13. Epistemic Disobedience and Cultural Memories: Polemics of the Wangsakerta Manuscripts of Cirebon. (Siti Sarah Muwahidah)
Bibliography
Contributors