Territorial Identification of Vernacular Settlement Cigugur through the Practice of Seren Taun Ritual in Kuningan, West Java

摘要

Seren Taun is a harvesting ritual for the traditional people of Cigugur. The performance is a spectral moment where cultural layers are temporally unveiled, and indigenous territory is identifiable. As has recurrently taken place, the feast includes spectator-participants from outside the boundary, including foreigners. The phenomenon reflects back to the nebulous characters of the Sundanese settlement territory which correlate with the dynamic constituent of the people. This dynamic could be checked by examining the festival procession and their participants. Based on the understanding of Liminal Space, this paper is aimed to investigate the nature of the territory, by examining the transformational process of processions, representations and organizations, in several performances of the festivals. In-depth observations were done on year 2013. Amid changes and modifications that took places from time to time, one aspect remains constantly significant - the Paseban Tri Panca Tunggal as the central orientation of Cigugur people.