Arab and Islamic Ethnographic Contexts
Objectives
1. Historical and current analysis of the key areas of fundamental theory and anthropological writing about Arab / Islamic contexts
2. Historical outline and ethnographic themes salient in the Arab / Islamic contexts
3. The relevance of anthropology reading for the interpretation of ethnographic data about the contexts in question
4. Introduction to major current cultural debates
5. Conceptual tools for a critical analysis of specific phenomena in contemporary contexts
6. Elementary research on issues relating to the contexts in question
General characterization
Code
01106294
Credits
6.0
Responsible teacher
Francisco Manuel Machado da Rosa da Silva Freire
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - 168
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
- Abu-Lughod, L., 1989. “Zones of Theory in the Anthropology of the Arab World”, Annual Review of Anthropology, 18: 267-306.
- Bourdieu, P., 2002 [1972]. Esboço de uma teoria da prática. Precedido de três estudos de etnologia Kabila. Oeiras: Celta.
- Deed, L. & J. Winegar, 2015. Anthropology's Politics: Disciplining the Middle East. Palo Alto: Stanford U. Press.
- Eickelman, D., 1998. The Middle East. An Anthropological Approach. N. Jersey: Prentice Hall.
- Haenni,P., 2005. L’Islam de marché. Paris: Seuil.
- Mahmood, S., 2006. “Teoria Feminista, Agência e Sujeito Liberatório: Algumas Reflexões sobre o Revivalismo Islâmico no Egipto” Etnográfica, 10 (1): 121-158
- Mahmood, M., 2002, "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism", American Anthropologist, 104 (3): 766-775
- Vakil, A., 2004. “Do Outro ao Diverso Islão e Muçulmanos em Portugal: história, discursos, identidades”, Rev. Lusófona C. das Religiões, 5/6: 283-312
- Said, E., 1978. Orientalism. NY: Vintage Books.
Teaching method
The course will work under a seminar regime. Classes will alternate moments of theoretical framework with thematic sessions of debate around texts, films and case studies presented by students for each of the thematic modules. The student participation will be essential and evaluated according to a pre-defined timetable. The pace of work will require the reading of at least one text for each class, as well as the progressive reading of the bibliography of general interest.
Evaluation method
Continuous assessment - a) the regular participation on debates; b) a midterm test; c) a final written test.(100%)
Subject matter
I. Basic concepts and procedures towards a cultural framing of the Arab and Islamic contexts
I.a. ‘Arabness’, Middle East, Near East, and the Maghreb
I.b. Cultural and historical development of Islam
I.c. Huntington versus Said
I. d. Understanding Islam as a religion
II. Ethnographies of M. East and N. Africa
II. a. The colonial construction of the medina
II.b. Daily live in urban contexts
II. c. Men and women: gender, sexuality and honour
II. d. Tribe, kinship, marriage, patronage, neighbourhood and friendship
III. Practical and fundamental areas of anthropological theory
III. a. The ‘scandal’ of the daughter of his paternal uncle
III. b. Mediterranean Anthropology revisited
III. c. The debate around segmentarity
III. d. Gender, Feminism, Islamic 'Feminism'
IV. Social and cultural expressions of post-colonialism and transnationalism
IV.a. Globalized and revivalist movements
IV.b. Market Islam
IV.c. Migration, diaspora and 'European Islam'