RT Article
T1 Emotion and Islamic Hagiology: A Post-taxonomic Approach
JF Method & theory in the study of religion
VO 35
IS 1
SP 24
OP 54
A1 Yep, Stephanie
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2023
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/183047538X
AB The study of emotion in Islamic hagiology remains largely uninterrogated, as visible in elliptical descriptions that classify particular texts, bodily gestures, or utterances as “emotive.” I advocate for a shift from taxonomic approaches to emotion to a focus on function in narrative hagiographies. I argue that emotion provides a rich analytic category for understanding the dynamic relationship between texts and bodies in the hagiographical process, as well as the multiplicity of bodies that are involved or implicated. To illustrate this framework, I provide readings of narratives in the sīra (biographies of Muḥammad) which depict bodily manifestations of awe when in Muḥammad’s presence. Endorsing the position that the hagiographical process is constantly under negotiation, these analyses reveal that emotional practices are crucial to understanding the relationality between exemplary persons, biographers, characters, and readers.
K1 Narrative
K1 Affect
K1 Muhammad
K1 Islamic Studies
K1 Emotion
K1 Hagiography
DO 10.1163/15700682-bja10076