1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996328037603316

Autore

Stewart Tony K.

Titolo

Witness to Marvels : Sufism and Literary Imagination / / Tony K. Stewart

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oakland, : University of California Press, 2019

Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [2019]

©2019

ISBN

0-520-30633-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xxxi, 300 pages) : illustrations; PDF, digital file(s)

Collana

Islamic Humanities ; ; 2

Disciplina

891.4409382

Soggetti

Romance fiction, Bengali

Islam and literature - India - Bengal

Sufism - India - Bengal

Hinduism - India - Bengal

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Conventions Regarding Transliteration and Nomenclature -- Conventions Regarding Dates -- 1. Heavenly Orchestrations: The World of the Legendary Pīrs of Bengal -- 2. The Enchanting Lives of the Pīrs: Structures of Narrative Romance -- 3. Subjunctive Explorations: The Parodic Work of Pīr Kathā -- 4. Mapping the Imaginaire: The Conditions of Possibility -- 5. Manipulating the Cosmic Hierarchy: A Practical Act of Conceptual Blending -- 6. Pragmatics of Pīr Kathā: Emplotment and Extra-Discursive Effects -- Epilogue -- Works Cited -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

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.