Subjectivity in ʿAttār, Persian Sufism, and European Mysticism

Claudia Yaghoobi

Description

Adopting an empirical and systematic approach, this interdisciplinary study of medieval Persian Sufi tradition and ʿAttār (1145-1221) opens up a new space of comparison for reading and understanding medieval Persian and European literatures. The book invites us on an intellectual journey that reveals exciting intersections that redefine the hierarchies and terms of comparison. While the primary focus of the book is on reassessing the significance of the concept of transgression and construction of subjectivity within select works of ʿAttār within Persian Sufi tradition, the author also creates a bridge between medieval and modern, literature and theory, and European and Middle Eastern cultures through reading these works alongside one another. Of significance to the author is ʿAttār's treatment of enlightenment with regard to class, religious, gender, and sexuality transgressions. In this book, the relation between transgression and the limit is not viewed as one of liberation from oppressive restrictions, but of undoing the structures that produce constraining binaries; it allows for alternatives and possibilities. In conjunction with the concepts of transgression and the limit, the presence of society's marginalized pariahs, outcasts, and untouchables are central to the book's main argument about construction of subjectivity, which the author believes is framed within ʿAttār's notion of mystical love and human diversity. The book addresses the question of whether concepts such as transgression, limit, and subjectivity are solely applicable to modern times, or they can shed light on our understanding of transgression and subjectivity from the past. The author's comparative inquiries aim to intensify our understanding of these notions advanced in both the medieval and the modern world. Through summoning works from various genres, disciplines, cultures, and times, the author posits that medieval literary works are living texts that can reveal as much about our present selves as they do about the past.
Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration, Dates, and Translation

Introduction

Chapter 1: Sufism, ʿAṭṭār, and His Works

Chapter 2: Modern Theory, Michel Foucault, and His Predecessors

Chapter 3: Rābiʿa al-ʿAdawiyya and Margery Kempe

Chapter 4: Maḥmūd and Ayāz, Sufi Homoeroticism, and European Same-Sex Relationships

Chapter 5: Majnūn and Lailā, and Lancelot and Guinevere

Chapter 6: Shaykh Ṣanʿān and the Christian Girl, and Abelard and Heloise

Conclusion: Human Diversity and Inclusiveness

Works Cited

Author’s Profile

Index

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Middle Eastern

Informations

• Publié par: Purdue University Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781612495019
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Subjectivity in ʿ A ṭṭ ār, Persian Sufism, and European Mysticism
Comparative Cultural Studies Ari Ofengenden, Series Editor
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Subjectivity in ʿ A ṭṭ ār, Persian Sufism, and European Mysticism
Claudia Yaghoobi
Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana
Copyright 2017 by Purdue University. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file at the Library of Congress.
Paper ISBN: 9781557537836 ePDF ISBN: 9781612495002 ePUB ISBN: 9781612495019
Cover image: The miniature “Sheikh Ṣ an ʿ ān and the Christian Maiden,” from ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār’s Conference of the Birds , inv. no. 34/2006. Photograph by Pernille Klemp. Courtesy of The David Collection, Copenhagen.
To my parents Parkooei Nazari and Avak Yaghoobi, who always encourage me to venture out and go on adventures, especially this one
Love’s valley is the next, and here desire
Will plunge the pilgrim into seas of fire,
Until his very being is enflamed
And those whom fire rejects turn back ashamed.
The lover is a man who flares and burns,
Whose face is fevered, who in frenzy yearns,
Who knows no prudence, who will gladly send
A hundred worlds toward their blazing end …
— ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār, Man ṭ iq al- ṭ ayr ( Conference of the Birds ), “The Valley of Love”
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration, Dates, and Translation
Introduction
Chapter 1 Sufism, ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār, and His Works
Chapter 2 Modern Theory, Michel Foucault, and His Predecessors
Chapter 3 Rābi ʿ a al- ʿ Adawiyya and Margery Kempe
Chapter 4 Ma ḥ mūd and Ayāz, Sufi Homoeroticism, and European Same-Sex Relationships
Chapter 5 Majnūn and Lailā, and Lancelot and Guinevere
Chapter 6 Shaykh Ṣ an ʿ ān and the Christian Girl, and Abelard and Heloise
Conclusion Human Diversity and Inclusiveness
Works Cited
Author’s Profile
Index
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the comments, feedback, guidance, and help of several individuals who in one way or another extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this study. First and foremost, I am heartily thankful to Dwight Reynolds for his breadth of knowledge and unfailing support. His remarkable comments have no doubt led to a better text than I could have ever produced on my own. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Janet Afary, whose encouragement, guidance, and support from the initial to the final stages of this project enabled me to develop a thorough understanding of the subject in its historical context. Thanks are also due to Aranye Fradenburg for her guidance and valuable insights. Without her suggestions on European literature and literary theory, this book would not have the nuanced aspects it embodies now. A special word of gratitude is due to Nasrin Rahimieh, whose suggestions and recommendations regarding literary analysis and Persian literature have been invaluable for the project. Special thanks should be given to Sara Lindheim, Susan Derwin, and Catherin Nesci, Mireille Miller-Young, Elisabeth Weber, Barbara Tomlinson, and Heather Blurton. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends, Rolando Longoria, Morteza Lak, Maryam Moqaddam, Matthew Thomas Miller, and Amir Khadem, who carefully read chapters of my work and provided insight and expertise. I offer my regards to the Purdue University Press director, editorial board, external reviewers, and administrative staff. Finally, words alone cannot express the thanks I owe to my family for their never-ending encouragement and moral support. This is how the project was born out of love.
I would like to thank the University of North Carolina for the University Research Council Publication Grant, which covered copyediting, indexing, and copyright expenses for this book. My early research on this topic was funded by a Regents Internship-Fellowship for Research (2012) through the Comparative Literature program at the University of California at Santa Barbara. My gratitude is due to the Iranian Studies Initiative at the University of California at Santa Barbara for a generous funding from a Mellichamp Research Fellowship in 2010.
In this book, I read ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār’s works, European literature, and modern theory alongside each other; that is, I undertake a contrapuntal reading of works that are modern and medieval, literature and theory, and Middle Eastern and European. In that sense, this book is based on an interdisciplinary approach to literature, and benefits from a comparative cross-cultural, cross-historical, and cross-disciplinary perspective. Throughout, I illustrate the interdependence of literature and theory from different times and places in regard to our understanding of the concepts of transgression and the limit, and how crossing boundaries can lead to the construction of subjectivity.
Earlier parts of this book have been published. Excerpts from the book titled, “Against the Current: Farīd al-Dīn ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār’s Diverse Voices,” have been published in Persian Literary Studies Journal and awarded The Jafar and Shokoh Farzaneh Paper Prize in Persian Literature and Culture. The same article, under the title, “Hamzisti dar Asar-e ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār” (Co-existence in ‘Attar’s Works), has also been translated into Persian in Rahavard Persian/English Journal of Iranian Studies . Excerpts from chapter 3 have also been published in Persian Literary Studies Journal under the title, “Sexual Trauma and Spiritual Experience: Rābi ʿ a al- ʿ Adawiyya and Margery Kempe.” Excerpts from chapter 5 in the form of an article titled, “Subjectivity in ʿ A ṭ ṭ ār’s Shaykh Ṣ an ʿ ān Story in The Conference of the Birds ,” hav