Witness to Marvels: Sufism and Literary Imagination

Tony K. Stewart

Open Access Published by University of California Press 2019

Witness to Marvels

Sufism and Literary Imagination

Tony K. Stewart

Volume 2 in the series Islamic Humanities

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780520973688

Overview
Contents

About this book

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.

There is a vast body of imaginal literature in Bengali that introduces fictional Sufi saints into the complex mythological world of Hindu gods and goddesses. Dating to the sixteenth century, the stories—pir katha—are still widely read and performed today. The events that play out rival the fabulations of the Arabian Nights, which has led them to be dismissed as simplistic folktales, yet the work of these stories is profound: they provide fascinating insight into how Islam habituated itself into the cultural life of the Bangla-speaking world. In Witness to Marvels, Tony K. Stewart unearths the dazzling tales of Sufi saints to signal a bold new perspective on the subtle ways Islam assumed its distinctive form in Bengal.

Author / Editor information

Stewart Tony K. :

Tony K. Stewart is Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in Humanities at Vanderbilt University and a specialist in the religions and literatures of early modern Bengal. His works include The Final Word: The Caitanya Caritam?ta and the Grammar of Religious Tradition and Fabulous Females and Peerless Pirs: Tales of Mad Adventure in Old Bengal.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xxi
Conventions Regarding Transliteration and Nomenclature Publicly Available Download PDF	xxv
Conventions Regarding Dates Publicly Available Download PDF	xxxi
1. Heavenly Orchestrations: The World of the Legendary Pīrs of Bengal Open Access Download PDF	1
2. The Enchanting Lives of the Pīrs: Structures of Narrative Romance Open Access Download PDF	33
3. Subjunctive Explorations: The Parodic Work of Pīr Kathā Open Access Download PDF	71
4. Mapping the Imaginaire: The Conditions of Possibility Open Access Download PDF	110
5. Manipulating the Cosmic Hierarchy: A Practical Act of Conceptual Blending Open Access Download PDF	155
6. Pragmatics of Pīr Kathā: Emplotment and Extra-Discursive Effects Open Access Download PDF	189
Epilogue Open Access Download PDF	255
Works Cited Open Access Download PDF	261
Index Open Access Download PDF	287

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 336

eBook

Published: September 13, 2019
ISBN: 9780520973688