The Twelver Shi’a in Kuwait constitute a minority amongst the country’s population. Compared to the situation of Shi’a in the region, they enjoy a good position economically and politically. While this political aspect of their identity frequently has been highlighted in scholarly literature, little has been written about how Shi’a ritual life relates to the political and economic spheres of social life. In this article, I discuss the performance of the annual Shi’a Ashura ritual in relation to the political status of the Shi’as in Kuwait. I show that the Shi’as’ public enactment of the ritual is multifaceted and revolves around the issue of ritual visibility. Ritual performance demonstrates compliance with as well as contestations of state authorities’ identity policy regarding religion and nationality, contestations within the Shi’a community, and contentions in relation to other groups in Kuwait.
{"title":"Invisible and Visible Shi’a","authors":"Thomas Fibiger","doi":"10.3167/ame.2022.170105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2022.170105","url":null,"abstract":"The Twelver Shi’a in Kuwait constitute a minority amongst the country’s population. Compared to the situation of Shi’a in the region, they enjoy a good position economically and politically. While this political aspect of their identity frequently has been highlighted in scholarly literature, little has been written about how Shi’a ritual life relates to the political and economic spheres of social life. In this article, I discuss the performance of the annual Shi’a Ashura ritual in relation to the political status of the Shi’as in Kuwait. I show that the Shi’as’ public enactment of the ritual is multifaceted and revolves around the issue of ritual visibility. Ritual performance demonstrates compliance with as well as contestations of state authorities’ identity policy regarding religion and nationality, contestations within the Shi’a community, and contentions in relation to other groups in Kuwait.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44168902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Unlike numerous traditions, poetic inspiration of Moorish poets is not spiritual but carnal because it takes root in the desire for a woman, who taste like Baudelaire's Fleurs du mal. Love poems find their reason in the context of their production. In this case, the decisive moment of the meeting and the long-lasting impression it leaves on the poet. Love poems are not the privilege of a handful, they are primarly composed in the specific Arabic dialect (ḥassāniyya), with the aim of reaching the woman's heart, like Bedouin Arabic pre-islamic poetry. So her first name, her body, her qualities and defects, from erotised become poetised. À la différence de nombreuses traditions, l'inspiration poétique des poètes maures n'est pas spirituelle mais bien charnelle puisqu'elle s'enracine dans le désir pour une femme rencontrée, qui a le goût des Fleurs du mal de Baudelaire. Les poèmes d'amour, indissociables de l'itinéraire existentiel de son auteur, ne trouvent leur raison d'être que dans le contexte de leur production, en l'occurrence l'instant décisif de la rencontre amoureuse. Comme dans la poésie arabe antéislamique bédouine, la poésie amoureuse maure, composée dans le dialecte arabe local (ḥassāniyya), possède un but essentiellement pratique, gagner le cœur de l'aimée. Ainsi son prénom, son corps, ses qualités et ses défauts, d'érotisés deviennent poétisés.
{"title":"Le désir poétisé ou le goût des Fleurs du mal (poésie maure de Mauritanie / poésie arabe antéislamique)","authors":"C. Fortier","doi":"10.3167/ame.2021.160202","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160202","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Unlike numerous traditions, poetic inspiration of Moorish poets is not spiritual but carnal because it takes root in the desire for a woman, who taste like Baudelaire's Fleurs du mal. Love poems find their reason in the context of their production. In this case, the decisive moment of the meeting and the long-lasting impression it leaves on the poet. Love poems are not the privilege of a handful, they are primarly composed in the specific Arabic dialect (ḥassāniyya), with the aim of reaching the woman's heart, like Bedouin Arabic pre-islamic poetry. So her first name, her body, her qualities and defects, from erotised become poetised.\u0000\u0000\u0000À la différence de nombreuses traditions, l'inspiration poétique des poètes maures n'est pas spirituelle mais bien charnelle puisqu'elle s'enracine dans le désir pour une femme rencontrée, qui a le goût des Fleurs du mal de Baudelaire. Les poèmes d'amour, indissociables de l'itinéraire existentiel de son auteur, ne trouvent leur raison d'être que dans le contexte de leur production, en l'occurrence l'instant décisif de la rencontre amoureuse. Comme dans la poésie arabe antéislamique bédouine, la poésie amoureuse maure, composée dans le dialecte arabe local (ḥassāniyya), possède un but essentiellement pratique, gagner le cœur de l'aimée. Ainsi son prénom, son corps, ses qualités et ses défauts, d'érotisés deviennent poétisés.\u0000","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47797769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The presence of male homoeroticism in Persian poetry has long been noted. This sexual configuration is largely based on the conventional manner in which the beloved is described with male attributes, including a hairline above the lips or sideburns. Such readings assume a direct relationship between poetic topoi and external reality, and project, ahistorically, a modern aesthetic assumption onto premodern gender norms. This article argues that a male-associated rendition of the beloved, specifically in the case of the rhetorics of the facial hair that permeates the description of patrons, the divine and women alike, reveals not necessarily the sweetheart's gender, but dominant perceptions of praiseworthy characteristics and the power dynamics that rule the rhetorics of premodern gender norms.
{"title":"Who Says Only Men Have a Beard?","authors":"F. Montazeri","doi":"10.3167/ame.2021.160207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160207","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The presence of male homoeroticism in Persian poetry has long been noted. This sexual configuration is largely based on the conventional manner in which the beloved is described with male attributes, including a hairline above the lips or sideburns. Such readings assume a direct relationship between poetic topoi and external reality, and project, ahistorically, a modern aesthetic assumption onto premodern gender norms. This article argues that a male-associated rendition of the beloved, specifically in the case of the rhetorics of the facial hair that permeates the description of patrons, the divine and women alike, reveals not necessarily the sweetheart's gender, but dominant perceptions of praiseworthy characteristics and the power dynamics that rule the rhetorics of premodern gender norms.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48356439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
By examining mahragānāt, a genre of music common among the low-income working class in Cairo, and upper-class pop music, this article studies the expression of love and grief across socio-economic classes in Egypt. It challenges the mainstream argument that men, especially those belonging to lower socio-economic classes, are expected to perform ‘like men’ and suppress their emotions and affection. These mahragānāt exhibit extreme affection and grief as men threat of inflicting self-harm or committing suicide if they lose their female lovers. This genre's popularity on social media resonates with increasing suicide rates among lower socio-economic classes due to failed love affairs. By focusing on expressions of love in Egyptian music, this article suggests a dialectic relation between love, class and the understanding of masculinity.
{"title":"‘Men Don't Cry Over Women’","authors":"Ahmed Abdelazim","doi":"10.3167/ame.2021.160203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160203","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000By examining mahragānāt, a genre of music common among the low-income working class in Cairo, and upper-class pop music, this article studies the expression of love and grief across socio-economic classes in Egypt. It challenges the mainstream argument that men, especially those belonging to lower socio-economic classes, are expected to perform ‘like men’ and suppress their emotions and affection. These mahragānāt exhibit extreme affection and grief as men threat of inflicting self-harm or committing suicide if they lose their female lovers. This genre's popularity on social media resonates with increasing suicide rates among lower socio-economic classes due to failed love affairs. By focusing on expressions of love in Egyptian music, this article suggests a dialectic relation between love, class and the understanding of masculinity.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41870968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
While love passes for being a feeling born in the West in the twelfth century, love poetry, in its declamatory or sung form, appeared in the sixth century among the Bedouin of the Arabian desert before flourishing in the Arabic cities, then Persian and finally in Europe. Love passion, excessive in essence, can be said only in excess with its joys and its distress. The man who experiences this state of passion is feminized, finding in the medium of poetry a socially legitimate space to express his emotions, including jealousy, nostalgia or blasphemy. Singing the beauty of the beloved and the disorder she or he inspires is a way of acknowledging his emotional vulnerability and also a mode of love conquest. But if the language of predation can be found in heterosexual and homosexual Arabic or Persian masculine poetry, such language is absent from feminine poetry, this difference revealing the asymmetrical polarity of desire according to gender. Alors que l'amour passe pour être un sentiment né en Occident au douzième siècle, la poésie amoureuse, sous sa forme déclamatoire ou chantée, est apparue dès le sixième siècle chez les Bédouins du désert d'Arabie avant de fleurir dans le monde arabe citadin, puis persan et enfin occidental. L'amour passion, excessif par essence, ne pouvant se dire que dans la démesure, le discours amoureux est l'expression toujours hyperbolique du pathos avec ses joies et ses détresses. L'homme qui éprouve cet état de passion est féminisé, trouvant dans le médium de la poésie un espace d'expression socialement autorisé pour exprimer ses émotions, y compris celles relatives à la jalousie, à la nostalgie ou au blasphème. Chanter la beauté de l'objet aimé et le trouble qu'il inspire est autant une manière d'avouer sa vulnérabilité affective qu'un mode de conquête amoureuse. Mais si le langage de la prédation est patent dans la poésie hétérosexuelle ou homosexuelle, un tel langage est absent de la poésie féminine, différence révélatrice de la polarité asymétrique du désir selon qu'on est homme ou femme.
{"title":"Introduction","authors":"Corinne Fortier","doi":"10.3167/ame.2021.160201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160201","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000While love passes for being a feeling born in the West in the twelfth century, love poetry, in its declamatory or sung form, appeared in the sixth century among the Bedouin of the Arabian desert before flourishing in the Arabic cities, then Persian and finally in Europe. Love passion, excessive in essence, can be said only in excess with its joys and its distress. The man who experiences this state of passion is feminized, finding in the medium of poetry a socially legitimate space to express his emotions, including jealousy, nostalgia or blasphemy. Singing the beauty of the beloved and the disorder she or he inspires is a way of acknowledging his emotional vulnerability and also a mode of love conquest. But if the language of predation can be found in heterosexual and homosexual Arabic or Persian masculine poetry, such language is absent from feminine poetry, this difference revealing the asymmetrical polarity of desire according to gender.\u0000\u0000\u0000Alors que l'amour passe pour être un sentiment né en Occident au douzième siècle, la poésie amoureuse, sous sa forme déclamatoire ou chantée, est apparue dès le sixième siècle chez les Bédouins du désert d'Arabie avant de fleurir dans le monde arabe citadin, puis persan et enfin occidental. L'amour passion, excessif par essence, ne pouvant se dire que dans la démesure, le discours amoureux est l'expression toujours hyperbolique du pathos avec ses joies et ses détresses. L'homme qui éprouve cet état de passion est féminisé, trouvant dans le médium de la poésie un espace d'expression socialement autorisé pour exprimer ses émotions, y compris celles relatives à la jalousie, à la nostalgie ou au blasphème. Chanter la beauté de l'objet aimé et le trouble qu'il inspire est autant une manière d'avouer sa vulnérabilité affective qu'un mode de conquête amoureuse. Mais si le langage de la prédation est patent dans la poésie hétérosexuelle ou homosexuelle, un tel langage est absent de la poésie féminine, différence révélatrice de la polarité asymétrique du désir selon qu'on est homme ou femme.\u0000","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47332340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines the contemporary qaṣīda poetry of South Sinai Muzīna Bedouin women from an anthropological perspective, drawing primarily upon a history of emotions framework, as well as Bedouin ethnographic studies and Arabic literary criticism. The article argues that the composition and vocalisation of qaṣīda poetry in South Sinai is more than a performative art; it is a means of ‘navigating’ one's emotions as a woman in a patriarchal society where emotional expression for both men and women is deemed inappropriate. In the poetry of Nādiyyah and Umm ‘Īd, we gain insight into the subjective lived experience of Bedouin women in South Sinai, as they attempt to poetically express their desire, elation, grief and passion, while simultaneously demonstrating their ability to ‘control’ their emotional states.
{"title":"‘The Fire Does Not Disturb Us’","authors":"M. R. Sparks","doi":"10.3167/ame.2021.160205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160205","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article examines the contemporary qaṣīda poetry of South Sinai Muzīna Bedouin women from an anthropological perspective, drawing primarily upon a history of emotions framework, as well as Bedouin ethnographic studies and Arabic literary criticism. The article argues that the composition and vocalisation of qaṣīda poetry in South Sinai is more than a performative art; it is a means of ‘navigating’ one's emotions as a woman in a patriarchal society where emotional expression for both men and women is deemed inappropriate. In the poetry of Nādiyyah and Umm ‘Īd, we gain insight into the subjective lived experience of Bedouin women in South Sinai, as they attempt to poetically express their desire, elation, grief and passion, while simultaneously demonstrating their ability to ‘control’ their emotional states.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43084437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Much has been said about the influential role of Forough Farrokhzad (1934–1967) in developing a feminine language in modern Iranian love poetry. Despite this, scholars have not systematically or theoretically examined what I call ‘the poetics of individuation’ in Forough's lyrics. The present article analyses Forough's poetic and individual paths of development as two inevitably parallel and intertwined routes. The article theorises that by removing a pre-imposed patriarchal sense of sin with regard to feminine love, Forough deconstructed the masculine narrative of good poetry in five highly significant ways via the feminine and self gaze. The article concludes that the poet's commitment to poetry as a platform of expression was a means of her liberation and individuation as an independent feminine poet with voice and agency.
{"title":"The Aesthetic of Desire and the Feminine Path of Individuation","authors":"Mahdieh Vali-Zadeh","doi":"10.3167/ame.2021.160206","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2021.160206","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Much has been said about the influential role of Forough Farrokhzad (1934–1967) in developing a feminine language in modern Iranian love poetry. Despite this, scholars have not systematically or theoretically examined what I call ‘the poetics of individuation’ in Forough's lyrics. The present article analyses Forough's poetic and individual paths of development as two inevitably parallel and intertwined routes. The article theorises that by removing a pre-imposed patriarchal sense of sin with regard to feminine love, Forough deconstructed the masculine narrative of good poetry in five highly significant ways via the feminine and self gaze. The article concludes that the poet's commitment to poetry as a platform of expression was a means of her liberation and individuation as an independent feminine poet with voice and agency.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45889284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article focusses on Al-Nur, a community centre in Istanbul, Turkey, that caters to Syrian and Palestinian Syrian refugees. It is based on five months of fieldwork conducted in the winter and spring of 2017 in Turkey that included participant observation as a volunteer English teacher at Al-Nur. A focus on the philosophy that guides Al-Nur’s functioning as a community centre as well as on the stories of displacement of some of its managers and volunteers sheds light on the importance of being able to (re)create home in exile. Such a focus also sheds light on how repeated displacement has shaped Palestinian Syrian refugees’ experiences of exile from Syria as well as their interactions with Syrian refugees.
{"title":"Recurring Displacement, Homemaking and Solidarity amongst Syrian and Palestinian Syrian Refugees in Turkey","authors":"Nell Gabiam","doi":"10.3167/AME.2021.160103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/AME.2021.160103","url":null,"abstract":"This article focusses on Al-Nur, a community centre in Istanbul, Turkey, that caters to Syrian and Palestinian Syrian refugees. It is based on five months of fieldwork conducted in the winter and spring of 2017 in Turkey that included participant observation as a volunteer English teacher at Al-Nur. A focus on the philosophy that guides Al-Nur’s functioning as a community centre as well as on the stories of displacement of some of its managers and volunteers sheds light on the importance of being able to (re)create home in exile. Such a focus also sheds light on how repeated displacement has shaped Palestinian Syrian refugees’ experiences of exile from Syria as well as their interactions with Syrian refugees.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42122918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since the civil war began in 2011, 5.5 million Syrians have fled their home country and are now living as refugees. Building upon anthropological studies of precarity, the article draws upon 14 months of person-centered ethnographic fieldwork to examine the contextual specificities of Syrian women’s protracted displacement in Jordan. By foregrounding bodily experience as described by three interlocutors during person-centered interviews, the article considers how subjectivities are reshaped under such conditions. The narratives analysed here illustrate how the precarity of displacement fosters an embodied sense of tightness, constriction and stagnation while reconfiguring temporal horizons and rendering visions of imagined futures increasingly myopic.
{"title":"‘Life Is Tight Here’","authors":"Morgen A. Chalmiers","doi":"10.3167/AME.2021.160104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/AME.2021.160104","url":null,"abstract":"Since the civil war began in 2011, 5.5 million Syrians have fled their home country and are now living as refugees. Building upon anthropological studies of precarity, the article draws upon 14 months of person-centered ethnographic fieldwork to examine the contextual specificities of Syrian women’s protracted displacement in Jordan. By foregrounding bodily experience as described by three interlocutors during person-centered interviews, the article considers how subjectivities are reshaped under such conditions. The narratives analysed here illustrate how the precarity of displacement fosters an embodied sense of tightness, constriction and stagnation while reconfiguring temporal horizons and rendering visions of imagined futures increasingly myopic.","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":"16 1","pages":"49-69"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48107428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
K. Gallagher, A. Kanna, Natalie Nesvaderani, R. Dajani, Dima Hamadmad, Ghufran Abudayyeh
{"title":"Reports: Publications and Films","authors":"K. Gallagher, A. Kanna, Natalie Nesvaderani, R. Dajani, Dima Hamadmad, Ghufran Abudayyeh","doi":"10.3167/AME.2021.160107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/AME.2021.160107","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35036,"journal":{"name":"Anthropology of the Middle East","volume":"16 1","pages":"111-120"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46542978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}