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Author Stewart, Tony K., 1954- author.

Title Witness to marvels : Sufism and literary imagination / Tony K. Stewart.

Publication Info. Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019]
©2019

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Location Call No. OPAC Message Status
 Axe JSTOR Open Ebooks  Electronic Book    ---  Available
Description 1 online resource
text txt rdacontent
computer c rdamedia
online resource cr rdacarrier
text file rda
Series Islamic Humanities ; 2
Islamic Humanities.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents Heavenly orchestrations : the world of the legendary pirs of Bengal -- The enchanting lives of the pirs : structures of narrative romance -- Subjunctive explorations : the parodic work of pir kath? -- Mapping the imaginaire : the conditions of possibility -- Manipulating the cosmic hierarchy : a practical act of conceptual blending -- Pragmatics of pir lath? : emplotment and extra-discursive effects -- Epilogue.
Summary "Witness to Marvels traces the development of a unique genre of Sufi-inspired Bengali romances called pir kathas, whose protagonists and plots are wholly fictive. For five centuries these fabulations have parodied Indigenous and Hindu textual traditions. Both mimicking and mocking, these parodies adopted a subjunctive tone, exploring a magical world of 'what-if'. They created an Islam-inflected space within a traditional Bengali cultural environment without trying to legislate what ideally 'should be' according to tropes common to Islamic history, theology, and law. The tales' discursive arena, the imaginaire, delineated the realm of possibility for how these tales might exercise the imagination to integrate Hindu and Islamic cosmologies. Tales insinuated themselves into locally relevant discourses through elaborate intertextual connections, subtly shifting presuppositions about the way the world works and what counts as religious authority. As Allah looked on from heaven, the tales routinely assigned Sufi saints, both pirs and bibis, to the pivotal role of avatar, the periodic descent of divinity, equating them to the Hindu god Narayan. Adopting a semiotic strategy to interpret these tales yields a bold new perspective on the subtle ways Islam assumed its distinctive form in Bengal and suggests how we need to reimagine conversion in this region"--Provided by publisher.
Note Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Language English.
Access Open Access EbpS
Subject Bengali literature -- Social aspects -- India -- Bengal.
Romance fiction, Bengali.
Islam and literature -- India -- Bengal.
Sufism -- India -- Bengal.
Hinduism -- India -- Bengal.
Islam et littérature -- Bengale (Bangladesh et Inde)
Soufisme -- Bengale (Bangladesh et Inde)
Hindouisme -- Bengale (Bangladesh et Inde)
Littérature bengali -- Aspect social -- Bengale (Bangladesh et Inde)
Asian history.
Religion: general.
RELIGION / Islam / History
Bengali literature -- Social aspects
Hinduism
Islam and literature
Romance fiction, Bengali
Sufism
India -- Bengal
Indexed Term 16th century.
animal.
divine.
fictional sufi saints.
hindu gods and goddesses.
human.
imaginal literature in bengali.
islams distinctive form in bengal.
mythological world.
parodic work of pir katha.
pir katha.
pragmatics of pir katha.
precolonial south asia.
structures of narrative romance.
studies of south asia.
superhuman.
tales of sufi saints.
Other Form: Print version: Stewart, Tony K., 1954- Witness to marvels. Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019] 9780520306332 (DLC) 2019005276
ISBN 0520973682
0520306333
9780520306332
9780520973688 (electronic bk.)
Standard No. 10.1525/luminos.76 doi
AU@ 000066208614
AU@ 000069192452
AU@ 000065733218

 
    
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