Abstract
In this chapter I discuss an aspect of Uyghur religious practice, which is at the time of writing under severe threat in the Uyghur homeland. I trace the patterns of circulation of sung hikmät, considering the ways that these Turkic language prayers link the Uyghur communities of Xinjiang to other parts of the Turkic speaking world through the circulation of written and published texts. I draw on recent debates on the relationship between orality and literacy, and consider how they help us to think about hikmät as they were performed in ritual contexts in Uyghur communities until very recently. I argue that oral and textual traditions of hikmät interact constantly and closely, creating "feedback loops" of transmission and performance. This perception impels a reassessment of our assumptions around projects of canonization of Central Asian performance traditions.
References
- Bellér-Hann, Ildikó, The Written and the Spoken: Literacy and Oral Transmission among the Uyghur (Berlin & Halle: ANOR, 2000).
- DeWeese, Devin (1996a), ‘Yasavī "Šayḫs" In The Timurid Era: Notes on the social and political role of communal Sufi affiliations in the 14th and 15th centuries’, Oriente Moderno, Nuova serie, Anno 15(76), 2/I, pp. 173-188.
- ___ (1996b), ‘The Masha'ikh-I Turk And The Khojagan: Rethinking The Links Between The Yasavi And Naqshbandi Sufi Traditions’, Journal of Islamic Studies 7/2, pp. 180-207.
- ___ (1999), ‘The Politics of Sacred Lineages in 19th-Century Central Asia: Descent Groups Linked to Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi in Shrine Documents and Genealogical Charters’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 31/4, pp. 507-530.
- ___ ‘Foreword’, in Koprulu, Mehmed Fuad, Early Mystics in Turkish Literature, trans. Gary Leiser & Robert Dankoff (Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2006).
- ___ ‘Ahmad Yasavi and the Divan-i Hikmat in Soviet Scholarship’, in Michael Kemper & Stephan Conermann (eds.) The Heritage of Soviet Oriental Studies (Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2011), pp. 262-290.
- Finnegan, Ruth, Literacy and Orality: Studies in the Technologies of Communication, 2nd edition (Oxford: Callender Press, 2014).
- Harris, Rachel, 'Theory and Practice in Contemporary Central Asian Maqām', in Theory And Practice In The Music Of The Islamic World: Essays for Owen Wright (Oxon & New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 215-235.
- Kadir, Aynur (2010), ‘Ehmed Yessewiy she’irlirining Uyghur folklorida ishlitilishi’, Bulaq 2010/6, pp. 93-102.
- Light, Nathan, Intimate Heritage: Creating Uyghur Muqam Song in Xinjiang (Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2008).
- Liu Xiangchen (dir.), Ashiq: The Last Troubadour (Xinjiang Normal University, 2010; 128min).
- Muxlis, Nijat (1985) ‘Diwani Hikmet: Ehmet Yessewiy’, Bulaq, 16, pp. 1-35.
- Nelson, Kristina, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001).
- Novak, David, Japanoise: Music at the Edge of Circulation (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013).
- Novetzke, Christian Lee, ‘Note to Self: What Marathi Kirtankars’ notebooks suggest about literacy, performance, and the travelling performer in pre-colonial Maharashtra’, in Francesca Orsini and Katherine Butler Schofield (eds.) Tellings and Texts: Music, Literature and Performance in North India (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2015), pp. 169-184.
- Pasilov B. & A. Ashirov (2007) ‘Revival of Sufi Traditions in Modern Central Asia: “Jahri Zikr” and its Ethnological Features’, Oriente Moderno, Nuova Serie, 87/1, pp. 163-175.
- Privratsky, Bruce G., Muslim Turkistan: Kazak Religion and Collective Memory (Richmond: Curzon Press, 2001).
- Scharlipp, Wolfgang Ekkehard (1998), ‘Two Eastern Turki texts about reading and writing’, Turkic Languages, 2/1, pp. 109-125.
- Sultanova, Razia, From Shamanism to Sufism: Women and Islam in Central Asian culture (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011).
- Thum, Rian, The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2014).
- Widdess, Richard (2014), 'Orality, Writing and Music in South Asia.' Musicology Today, 19, pp.1-17.
- ___, ‘Text, Orality, and Performance in Newar Devotional Music’, in Francesca Orsini and Katherine Butler Schofield (eds.) Tellings and Texts: Music, Literature and Performance in North India (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2015), pp. 231-245. Yessewi, Ehmed, Diwan Hikmet, trans. Abdureshid Jelil Qorluq (Beijing: Milletler Neshriyati, 2012).
- Zhou Ji, Zhongguo Xinjiang Weiwu’erzu Yisilanjiao Liyi Yinyue (Taibei: Xinwenfeng chuban gongsi, 1999).
Abstract
In this chapter I discuss an aspect of Uyghur religious practice, which is at the time of writing under severe threat in the Uyghur homeland. I trace the patterns of circulation of sung hikmät, considering the ways that these Turkic language prayers link the Uyghur communities of Xinjiang to other parts of the Turkic speaking world through the circulation of written and published texts. I draw on recent debates on the relationship between orality and literacy, and consider how they help us to think about hikmät as they were performed in ritual contexts in Uyghur communities until very recently. I argue that oral and textual traditions of hikmät interact constantly and closely, creating "feedback loops" of transmission and performance. This perception impels a reassessment of our assumptions around projects of canonization of Central Asian performance traditions.
References
- Bellér-Hann, Ildikó, The Written and the Spoken: Literacy and Oral Transmission among the Uyghur (Berlin & Halle: ANOR, 2000).
- DeWeese, Devin (1996a), ‘Yasavī "Šayḫs" In The Timurid Era: Notes on the social and political role of communal Sufi affiliations in the 14th and 15th centuries’, Oriente Moderno, Nuova serie, Anno 15(76), 2/I, pp. 173-188.
- ___ (1996b), ‘The Masha'ikh-I Turk And The Khojagan: Rethinking The Links Between The Yasavi And Naqshbandi Sufi Traditions’, Journal of Islamic Studies 7/2, pp. 180-207.
- ___ (1999), ‘The Politics of Sacred Lineages in 19th-Century Central Asia: Descent Groups Linked to Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi in Shrine Documents and Genealogical Charters’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 31/4, pp. 507-530.
- ___ ‘Foreword’, in Koprulu, Mehmed Fuad, Early Mystics in Turkish Literature, trans. Gary Leiser & Robert Dankoff (Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2006).
- ___ ‘Ahmad Yasavi and the Divan-i Hikmat in Soviet Scholarship’, in Michael Kemper & Stephan Conermann (eds.) The Heritage of Soviet Oriental Studies (Abingdon & New York: Routledge, 2011), pp. 262-290.
- Finnegan, Ruth, Literacy and Orality: Studies in the Technologies of Communication, 2nd edition (Oxford: Callender Press, 2014).
- Harris, Rachel, 'Theory and Practice in Contemporary Central Asian Maqām', in Theory And Practice In The Music Of The Islamic World: Essays for Owen Wright (Oxon & New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 215-235.
- Kadir, Aynur (2010), ‘Ehmed Yessewiy she’irlirining Uyghur folklorida ishlitilishi’, Bulaq 2010/6, pp. 93-102.
- Light, Nathan, Intimate Heritage: Creating Uyghur Muqam Song in Xinjiang (Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2008).
- Liu Xiangchen (dir.), Ashiq: The Last Troubadour (Xinjiang Normal University, 2010; 128min).
- Muxlis, Nijat (1985) ‘Diwani Hikmet: Ehmet Yessewiy’, Bulaq, 16, pp. 1-35.
- Nelson, Kristina, The Art of Reciting the Qur’an (Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001).
- Novak, David, Japanoise: Music at the Edge of Circulation (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013).
- Novetzke, Christian Lee, ‘Note to Self: What Marathi Kirtankars’ notebooks suggest about literacy, performance, and the travelling performer in pre-colonial Maharashtra’, in Francesca Orsini and Katherine Butler Schofield (eds.) Tellings and Texts: Music, Literature and Performance in North India (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2015), pp. 169-184.
- Pasilov B. & A. Ashirov (2007) ‘Revival of Sufi Traditions in Modern Central Asia: “Jahri Zikr” and its Ethnological Features’, Oriente Moderno, Nuova Serie, 87/1, pp. 163-175.
- Privratsky, Bruce G., Muslim Turkistan: Kazak Religion and Collective Memory (Richmond: Curzon Press, 2001).
- Scharlipp, Wolfgang Ekkehard (1998), ‘Two Eastern Turki texts about reading and writing’, Turkic Languages, 2/1, pp. 109-125.
- Sultanova, Razia, From Shamanism to Sufism: Women and Islam in Central Asian culture (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011).
- Thum, Rian, The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2014).
- Widdess, Richard (2014), 'Orality, Writing and Music in South Asia.' Musicology Today, 19, pp.1-17.
- ___, ‘Text, Orality, and Performance in Newar Devotional Music’, in Francesca Orsini and Katherine Butler Schofield (eds.) Tellings and Texts: Music, Literature and Performance in North India (Cambridge: Open Book Publishers, 2015), pp. 231-245. Yessewi, Ehmed, Diwan Hikmet, trans. Abdureshid Jelil Qorluq (Beijing: Milletler Neshriyati, 2012).
- Zhou Ji, Zhongguo Xinjiang Weiwu’erzu Yisilanjiao Liyi Yinyue (Taibei: Xinwenfeng chuban gongsi, 1999).
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal Section | Original research |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | November 19, 2019 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2019 |
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