The Ineffable Word
Course Description
This seminar examines the role of language in the articulation of prophetic and mystical experience with focus on the traditions of Islamic asceticism and mysticism, as they emerged from within the religious traditions of Mesopotamia and Central Asia. The beginning of the course gives particular attention to questions of language, orality, and writing as vehicles of religiosity. The seminar provides an overview of the literary expressions of Islamic asceticism and mysticism through the study of poetry, philosophy, hagiographies, anecdotes, music, art and architecture.
Topics include: language, being and experience; scripture and orality; material cultures of the book; apophatic discourse; symbol and structure; love and the erotic; prophecy and vision. In addition to primary texts taken from Zoroastrian, Manichean and Islamic sources, we will explore a range of theoretical readings in the academic study of mysticism. Attention is also given to the intersection of mystical traditions with broader social and political networks.
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