?
Форум: Материальный поворот и антропология религии
Material in the broad sense of the word, including body, things, space of mosque, holy places (Arabic. mazar, ziyarat) and other tangible objects are an important component of Muslim religiosity. This is evidenced by the specific attitudes of the Sharia and Muslim custom in the Caucasus. The controversy about the corporeal in Islam sheds light on the nuances of (de)secularization. The material side of Muslim religiosity often contains hidden social challenges, which is especially clearly seen in the example of the cult of saints, which the zealots of the purity of Islamic monotheism tried unsuccessfully to eradicate. Missing from her or his study things, emotions, attitudes to body in religion, social anthropologist gets a more flawed picture of the religious experience of his respondents. In the North Caucasus, the study of the religious materiality of Muslims, especially the social life of things, emotional and somatic experiences of participants in the ritual action, is just beginning. Methodologically, it seems to me more correct to record as completely as possible not only oral histories, but also the narrator's experiences related to them, “cult objects” on the principle of a rich description. The method of included observation remains extremely important in the study of the ritual. Exhibits of local history museums and field diaries of some Soviet ethnographers can be of considerable help in studying the social life of things and their former owners. In the study of religious materiality, we must not forget to include ourselves and our predecessors.