Religious and Textual Traditions in South Asia (373-0-20)
Topic
Fanā: Sufism and Islamic Mysticism in South Asian
Instructors
Daniel Joseph Majchrowicz
847/467-5829
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-423
Office Hours: varies by quarter, please contact instructor
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-415: Wed 5:00PM - 7:50PM
Overview of class
AY 22-23 Fanā: Sufism and Islamic Mysticism in South Asian Art and Literature
How do you convey an experience of the ineffable? How do you guide others along the path toward the divine presence? For many practitioners of Sufism in South Asia, the answer was and is art: literature, music, and the visual arts. These artistic and literary forms were, and remain, one of the primary means through which people in South Asia encountered and understood Islamic thought. Simultaneously artistic and spiritual, entertaining and didactic, these forms of artistic expression appeal to both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Today, Sufi literature and arts continue to occupy a central place in the artistic universe of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Thirteenth-century devotional appear in synthesized Bollywood love songs meant for popular audiences, pop-anthems quote 16th century savants, while listeners around the world enjoy remixes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's devotional qawwalis. In short, Sufism and the arts are tightly intertwined in South Asia.
This course will offer an introduction to this expansive theological and artistic history, exploring Islamic mysticism as it found expression in the arts and literatures of South Asia, as well as an examination of Sufism's contribution to the development of South Asian art and popular culture. Our study will range from narrative poems in Braj Bhasha to pop songs in Persian, from erotic couplets in Urdu to esoteric quatrains in Sindhi. We will engage with scholarly approaches to Sufism, but primary sources will be the feature of this course. We will encounter at least one work in each session, analyzing it both as a work of artistic expression in its social and historical setting, and as a vehicle to convey the indescribable experience of divine love. We will also necessarily read Islamic mystical literatures produce outside of South Asia (Rumi, Attar, etc.), for the exchange of religious ideas and spiritual influence have always moved freely across the Islamic world. By the end of this course, students will have a thorough knowledge of the relationships between Islam, Sufism, literature and popular culture in South Asia.
Teaching Method
Seminar
Evaluation Method
Essays
Class Materials (Required)
None
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area