A second look at invisibility: Al-Ghayb, Islam, ethnography

Bubandt, Nils; Rytter, Mikkel; Suhr, Christian

doi:10.1007/s11562-017-0395-5

Cited by 27 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…If a wish comes true, devotees must keep their promise or fear the saint’s retribution. In considering the saint as a non-human agent, invisible but present, the devotees’ rituals involve an epistemological and ontological play with frames of reference, dwelling on the boundaries of what is real and imaginary (Bubandt et al., 2017; Kreinath, 2014; Luhrmann, 2012; Shapiro, 2016).…”

Section: Transfigurations Of Hızır and Fractal Dynamics In Rituals Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playing with frames of reference in veneration rituals: Fractal dynamics in encounters with a Muslim saint

Kreinath

2019

Anthropological Theory

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Paradigmatic shifts in anthropological theory shape the ways in which play and ritual are conceptualized. By demarcating these shifts, the argument is made that an analysis of both play and ritual must start with the possibility of choice as distributed among participants who engage in play and ritual as forms of social practice. Taking the dynamics of framing in play and ritual and the patterns emerging in social interaction as a point of departure, the configuration of ‘fractal dynamics’ is introduced to relate play and rituals as emerging through recursive processes of framing social interaction. Based on rituals of saint veneration among Arab Alawites in southernmost Turkey, it is argued that not only are forms of ritual interaction among devotees at pilgrimage sites playful but also that ritual interactions of devotees with the saint are a form of existential play of chance and disguise. By taking into account the myth and social cosmology that institutes such rituals of veneration and interaction with the saint, it is concluded that these rituals of veneration and interaction with the saint as a non-human agent play with frames of reference. This is done in similar ways, as when the saint acts as a trickster or symbolic type and is perceived by devotees as playing with their perception through disguise and simulation. The reconfiguration of play and ritual through ‘fractal dynamics’ does not only explain the changing dynamics of social configurations in religious interactions with non-human agents, but it also helps to account for probability and choice—and simulation and disguise—in social situations that border the religious and mundane.

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Section: Transfigurations Of Hızır and Fractal Dynamics In Rituals Ofmentioning

confidence: 99%

Playing with frames of reference in veneration rituals: Fractal dynamics in encounters with a Muslim saint

Kreinath

2019

Anthropological Theory

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“…However, this remark should not be taken as the deployment of Orientalist tropes about the rationality of Western modernity versus the mysticism of its alternatives. Rather, as Bubandt et al (2017) contend, bringing the mystical into the visual field can challenge 'not only the monopoly of modern science and rationality of visuality, but also the authorities in the very context from which they grew'. Thus, invisibility is not necessarily something to be overcome through technology or information sharing; it is precisely what co-constitutes what is seen by drone operators, human rights organisations, local authorities, people on the ground, and global audiences.…”

Section: Contesting the Scopic Regimes Of Modernity: Aesthetic Intervmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…What avenues, then, are opened by Chishty’s art to further decolonise the scopic regimes of modernity? If the aporia of vision is that what is seen is reliant on what cannot be seen — that is, the invisible distinguishes the visible — Nils Bubandt et al (2017) suggest that while this dynamic may be central to the scopic regimes of Western modernity, there are other ways to negotiate it. They focus on the concept of al-ghayb within Islam, which refers to the hidden, the unseen, and the invisible, which co-constitutes the visible rather than serving as its outer limit.…”

Section: Contesting the Scopic Regimes Of Modernity: Aesthetic Intervmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It includes those parts of reality that are covered by other visible objects, phenomena that by their nature cannot be perceived (e.g. different spiritual planes or temporal points like past and future), as well as anything that is blocked from view by one’s perspective (Drieskens, 2006; Mittermaier, 2011; Suhr, 2013, cited in Bubandt et al, 2017). Within Sufi traditions, al-ghayb is also important for understanding ‘jinn, angels, magic, the evil eye, and omens’ (Bubandt et al, 2017).…”

Section: Contesting the Scopic Regimes Of Modernity: Aesthetic Intervmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scopic regimes and the visual turn in International Relations: Seeing world politics through the drone

Grayson

Mawdsley

2018

European Journal of International Relations

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In this article, we argue that the lack of attention paid to the scopic regimes of modernity in the ‘visual turn’ literature misses a key aspect of how visuality produces and shapes the international as both a site — and sight — of politics. In making the case that systemised ways of seeing are central to world politics, we contend that the scopic regimes of modernity help us to understand how it becomes possible for particular representational practices and outputs to resonate within broader discourses as authoritative, truthful, and/or emotively powerful. To do so, we draw from ongoing controversies over targeted killing via drones. We argue that disagreements over the legality and governance of drone warfare are more than disputes over legal statutes and legitimate techniques for the application of kinetic force; they also encompass disagreements over how we see, who we see, what we see, and what counts as being seen. Thus, by demonstrating the importance of scopic regimes, we provide evidence of the value of engaging with how the visual produces the political in International Relations. Moreover, we argue for International Relations to engage with scopic regimes from beyond Western traditions in order to decolonise the ‘visual turn’.

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“…Fernando pushes us to think about a “true post‐humanism” that entails the possibility of modes of existence not immediately accessible, or even completely inaccessible, to our common sensory perception. Engaging ethnographically with relations with such immaterial beings—including but not limited to jinni, saints, and God (El‐Aswad 2010; Mittermaier 2010, 2019; Suhr 2015; Taneja 2017; Bubandt, Rytter, and Suhr 2019; Schielke 2019)—is not only essential to understanding diverse modes of Muslim religiosity but further “destabilizes the distinction between the material and immaterial, natural and supernatural” (Bubandt 2018, 7–8) that underlies much anthropological scholarship. Doing so pushes the study of human–non‐human entanglements beyond its materialist biases (Fernando 2017) to consider the possibilities of extra‐secular “becomings” (Haraway 2008), ways of becoming attuned, encountering, and living in a relational context with immaterial as well as material beings.…”

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confidence: 99%

Voices of Sorrow and Joy

2022

Cult. Anthropol.

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The Family of the Prophet Muhammad holds a central position in Shiʿi Muslim religiosity. As immaterial beings able to intercede in this world, they are said to be witnessing and co-present in the lives of Muslims. Anthropology has neglected relations with immaterial more-than-human beings like these. Instead of regarding them merely as symbols or moral exemplars, this essay focuses on the cultivation of relations of intimacy with them through the devotional practice of vocal recitation. In eastern Turkey, gatherings of celebration and mourning are held throughout the year to commemorate the earthly deaths and birthdays of these figures. The climax of such occasions is marked by the recitation of various genres of lament or praise. This essay uses audio examples and focuses on these recitations to demonstrate how their vocal and discursive features offer ways for Muslims to cultivate love and intimacy to live life alongside these immaterial more-than-human beings. ÖZET Hazreti Muhammed’in ailesi (Ehl-i Beyt), Şii mezhebi inancında merkezi bir konuma sahiptir. Bu dünyada şefaat edebilecek gayri maddi varlıklar olarak, Müslümanların hayatlarına tanık oldukları ve onlarla birlikte bulundukları söylenir. Ne yazık ki antropolojide, bu gibi gayri maddi ve insan-ötesi varlıklarla ilişkiler ihmal edilmektedir. Bu makale, insan-ötesi varlıkları sadece birer simge veya ahlâki model olarak görmek yerine, onlarla ilahi ve mersiye okumanın aracılığıyla kurulan yakınlık ilişkilerine odaklanmaktadır. Türkiye’nin Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi’nde, Ehl-i Beyt İmamların şehadet ve doğum günlerini anmak için yıl boyunca kutlama ve eza meclisleri düzenlenmektedir. Bu tarz merasimlerin zirvesi ise çeşitli ağıt veya ilahi türlerinin okunmasıyla gerçekleşir. Bu makalede sesli örnekler kullanılmaktadır ve kayıtlara odaklanılmıştır. Bunların yanı sıra mersiyelerin ses ve söylemsel özelliklerinin, Müslümanların Ehl-i Beytin yanında yaşamak, onlarla sevgi ve yakınlık ilişkileri geliştirmek için ne tarz yollar açtığı tartışılmaktadır.

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A second look at invisibility: Al-Ghayb, Islam, ethnography

Cited by 27 publications

References 49 publications

Playing with frames of reference in veneration rituals: Fractal dynamics in encounters with a Muslim saint

Playing with frames of reference in veneration rituals: Fractal dynamics in encounters with a Muslim saint

Scopic regimes and the visual turn in International Relations: Seeing world politics through the drone

Voices of Sorrow and Joy

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