Soundscapes of Islam
MUSC 296
Spring 2024 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
REES 296, COL 294 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory Certificate |
From the melodious recitation of the Qur'an and Sufi-inspired sung poetry to popular soundtracks of religious revival and resistance, the world of Islam has generated myriad sonic expressions across its diverse historical and geocultural milieus. While recognized for its affective and transformative powers, music has also been the subject of a longstanding polemic in Islamic societies, its moral and ethical status being debated and contested. This course will survey the soundscapes and ideoscapes of Islam, exploring the manifold roles and meanings assigned to music among Muslim communities. It will examine a range of sound practices and related discourses to discover the ways in which locally distinct religious and social customs have shaped concepts of music and sonic articulations of Muslim identity. We will locate the varied and shifting attitudes toward music and musicians within the context of political censorship, colonialism, nationalism, and cosmopolitan modernity, and consider the impact of current conflicts and migratory processes on the local-global circulation of religious ideologies and sounds. Drawing from selected case studies of sacred and secular performance, we will explore the musical construction of gender, place, and architecture; the role of media in the formation of Muslim 'counterpublics'; and the mediation of aesthetic sensibilities through style. Topics covered will include: views on music within the Islamic tradition (the Qur'an and Sunna, shari'a law, theology, and Sufism); philosophies and cosmologies of music in Islam; music at the courts of Islamic rulers; religious chant and art singing in the Middle East; sound, healing, and exorcism in North Africa; ritual, devotional, and mystical practices in Central Asia; Islamic performing arts in Indonesia; Sufi world music and Muslim pop and hip-hop across Asia and Africa, and among immigrants and refugees in Europe and North America. Throughout the course, Islam will be encountered as a widely diverse spiritual and sociocultural system that has been a source and stimulus for creativity among Muslim peoples worldwide. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (MUSC)(MUST-MN)(REES-MN)(REES-Lang/Lit/C) |
Major Readings:
Virginia Danielson, Scott Marcus, and Dwight Reynolds (eds), THE GARLAND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD MUSIC: THE MIDDLE EAST, Vol. 6 (Routledge, 2002)
Michael Frishkopf and Federico Spinetti (eds), MUSIC, SOUND, AND ARCHITECTURE IN ISLAM (University of Texas Press, 2018)
Charles Hirshkind, THE ETHICAL SOUNDSCAPE: CASSETTE SERMONS AND ISLAMIC COUNTERPUBLICS (Columbia University Press, 2006)
Theodore Levin, Saida Daukeyeva, and Elmira Köchümkulova (eds), THE MUSIC OF CENTRAL ASIA (Indiana University Press, 2016)
Kristina Nelson, THE ART OF RECITING THE QUR'AN (University of Texas Press, 1985)
Karin van Nieuwkerk, Mark LeVine, and Martin Stokes (eds), ISLAM AND POPULAR CULTURE (University of Texas Press, 2016)
Regula Qureshi, SUFI MUSIC OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN: SOUND, CONTEXT AND MEANING IN QAWWALI (Oxford University Press, 2006)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly reading and listening assignments, book and film reviews, midterm test, final research project |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
No background knowledge of music or Islam is required for attending this course. |
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