Abstract
This essay analyzes the performance of dhikr (the invocation of God through prayer, song, and movement) in Aleppo, Syria, as an embodied practice mediated by specific repertoires of aesthetic and kinesthetic practices. In dhikr, aesthetic stimuli produce an experience of temporal transformation that participants narrate as "ecstasy." Performing dhikr also conditions a musical self, which in turn allows for the habituation of spiritual states. This suggests the importance of investigating the interface of embodied practices, temporality, and the aesthetics of spiritual practice. (Aesthetics, temporality, music, Islam, Syria).
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 381-391 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Ethnology |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2004 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cultural Studies
- Anthropology
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)