MI week 9

Ashura' and Muharram, continued.

Current events - Ashura:

Ashura 2015: Shiite Muslims Mark Martyrdom Of Imam Hussein

NYTimes: ISIS Claims Responsibility for Attack in Bangladesh

Tuesday (9a)

As attendance was so low last week, I'm repeating last Thursday's topic for Tuesday. Please email me to let me know which paper you're presenting. In your presentation you need not summarize the whole paper. Rather trace the scope and main argument, including AV examples if you can find them. Then offer your critique: does the argument work? Where is the author coming from? How is the writing shaped by a particular cultural background, education, or political stance? Is there a hidden agenda? What are its limitations? How does it align with other works you've read in this course? (Don't worry if you don't have much to say in the way of critique - just do your best to think critically!)

If you didn't submit this assignment already please submit using 8b on eClass (along with your paper outline if you didn't submit it already). There is no new assignment for 9a.

NB: I've added some listening material for Regula Qureshi's article, from her own fieldwork in 1969. If you're musically trained you should be able to figure out which examples she's transcribed in the article.

Due

(these were due last Thursday ; please just get them in as soon as you can)

A) Research paper outline and initial bibliography (submit using associated link. Note that this time you'll upload your document.)

B) Reading and Discussions: Everyone pick one of the following papers to present on Thursday; write a one-page summary and critique of the article. What is it about? What are its conclusions? What do you think of these conclusions - can you see any limits, hidden assumptions, in the author's analysis? Try to locate online media (youtube, etc.) relevant to this paper and include the URLs in your submission. Submit using eClass under 8b. Be ready to present, discuss, and critique your article in class! If more than one person picks the same article we'll have the benefit of multiple "takes" on the same piece, which will be interesting to compare. If you can find any online media relevant to your reading, please bring the link and we can watch/listen together.

Here are your choices: (more than one person can do the same article)...

1) "Embodiment and Ambivalence: Emotion in South Asian Muharram Drumming" Richard K. Wolf. Source: Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 32 (2000), pp. 81-116. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3185244 .

2) "Islamic Music in an Indian Environment: The Shi'a Majlis" Regula Burckhardt Qureshi Ethnomusicology Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1981), pp. 41-71 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/850974 NB: Listen to these genres from field recordings by Regula Qureshi; see also the track listing.

3) "Performative elements of Shi'ite ritual and mass mobilization: The case of Iran" (Hamidreza) Heidar G. Azodanloo

(scroll down to find the article)

4) "Shia Lamentation Rituals and Reinterpretations of the Doctrine of Intercession: Two Cases from Modern India" David Pinault Source: History of Religions, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Feb., 1999), pp. 285-305 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3176355 (Jeremy)

Class

Student presentations, critiques, and discussions.