The Ethics of Listening: Cassette-Sermon Audition in Contemporary EgyptAuthor(s): Charles HirschkindSource:
American Ethnologist,
Vol. 28, No. 3 (Aug., 2001), pp. 623-649Published by:
on behalf of the
Stable URL:
Accessed: 05/01/2011 10:05
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
.
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
.
.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Blackwell Publishing
and
American Anthropological Association
are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to
American Ethnologist.
http://www.jstor.org
the ethicsoflistening:cassette-sermonauditionncontemporaryEgypt
CHARLESHIRSCHKINDUniversityofWisconsin,MadisonIn thisarticle,Ifocuson thepracticeoflisteningtotape-recordedsermonsamongcontemporaryMuslimsinEgyptasan exerciseofethicalself-discipline.Ianalyzethispracticein itsrelationto the formationof a sensorium:thevis-ceralcapacitiesenablingof theparticularformof Muslimpietytowhichthosewho undertakethepractice aspired.Infocusingon boththe homiletictechniquesofpreachersand the traditionsof ethical audition that informthecontemporary practiceofsermonlistening,Iexplorehowsermonlistenersre-constructtheir ownknowledge,emotions,and sensibilities in accordwithmodels ofIslamic moralpersonhood.Normativemodelsof moralperson-hoodgroundedinIslamic textualandpracticaltraditionsprovideapointofreference forthe task of ethicalself-improvement.[embodiment, senses,dis-ciplinarypractice,reception,media,sermons,Islam]Amongthemanylines ofinquirygiven impetus byWalterBenjamin'srich oeu-vre,one of the most fruitful oranthropologistshas been aninterrogationnto boththehistoryofthesenses and the structuresofsensory perceptionthat underlieparticularformsof historicalexperience.Benjamin'sexcavationofhistoriesofsensoryexperi-ence fromwithinthe outmodedobjectsofmodernityand,inparticular,hiswork ontheimpactofmodern mediatechniquesonperceptionhaveprovidedscholars less aset oftheoretical formulationsthan aparticularmethodological sensibility-afeelforthehistoricallydiscordant within thecontemporary.Most influentialinthisregardhasbeenhisclassicessay,"The Work ofArt intheAgeofMechanicalReproduction"(1968a),inwhichBenjaminexplorestheimpactof modernphotographicand cine-matictechniquesonperception. Specifically,hearguesthat theparticularexperien-tialqualitythatgroundstheuniquenessandauthenticity(whathe calls"aura")fhis-toricalobjectshas beenallbuteffaced under theperceptual regimeofmoderntechnologicalculture. Withthemechanicalreproductionof works ofart,the ideaofauthenticoriginalslosesallmeaning;thetraditionsthat werefoundedonand thatup-heldtheknowledgeofsuch authenticobjectscannolongermaintainthepracticalandperceptualconditionsthatsustain them.Benjaminfurtherexploresthisprocessin"TheStoryteller"1968b),inwhich hearguesthat the traditional modes ofknowledgeandpracticethatgroundedthe art ofstorytellinghave been renderedimpracticablewiththeriseof information as the dominant communicative form.Inthisarticle,Itakeup Benjamin'sinterrogationoftherelationbetweensensoryexperienceand traditionalpractices,but fromadifferentstandpointthan the oneprivilegedinBenjamin'sownanalyses. Specifically,Iapproachthequestionof thesensoriumnot fromthe side of the(modern)objectanditsimpacton thepossibilitiesofsubjectiveexperience,but ratherrom theperspectiveof a culturalpracticethrough
AmericanEthnologist28(3):623-649.Copyright2001,AmericanAnthropologicalAssociation.
americanethnologistwhich theperceptual capacitiesofthesubjectare honedand,thus,throughwhich theworld thosecapacitiesinhabit isbroughtintobeing,renderedperceptible.Inexplor-ingsuchapractice,Ishow howtraditionspresuppose,andprovidethe means topro-duce,theparticularsensoryskills on which theactions,objects,andknowledgesthatconstitute thesetraditionsdepend.Such tradition-cultivated modes ofperceptionandappraisalcoexistwithin thespaceofthemodern andare enabledinsomeways bytheveryconditionsthatconstitutemodernity.Thus,throughananalysisof aparticularculturalpractice gearedtothistask,Ihopeto contribute totheimportantandongoingtask ofrethinkinghedecidedlystubbornoppositionbetween traditionandmodernity.My specificfocushere is onthepracticeoflisteningtotape-recordedsermonsamong contemporaryMuslimsinEgyptas an exercise of ethicalself-discipline.Dur-ingaperiodof ayearand ahalf,Iworked with agroupofyoungmeninCairo forwhomsermonaudition was aregular activity.Ialso tooklessons on the art ofpreach-ingfromanexperiencedpreacher throughoutmystayinCairo.Forallof thesemen,the cassette sermonwasatechnologyofself-improvement,oneamonga number ofsuchtechnologiesthat have beenpopularizedinrecent decadeswiththegradualemergenceofwhat iscommonlyreferredtoas the IslamicRevival(al-Sahwaal-Islamiyya).In whatfollows,Iexplorethe fashionofcassette-sermonaudition as a dis-ciplinarypractice throughwhichcontemporary EgyptianMuslimshoneanethicallyresponsivesensorium:therequisitesensibilities thattheysee asenablingthem toliveas devoutMuslimsin a worldincreasinglyorderedbysecularrationalities.Notably,Iuse the terms sensesand sensibilitiesin awaythatsuggeststheirfundamental interde-pendency.Partofmy argumentispreciselyto describe howemotions,capacitiesofaestheticappreciation,and states of moralattunementorbeing(i.e.,sensibilities)cometo structurefundamentalsensory experiences.Itshouldbeclear, therefore,thatinreferringtosenses,Iamnotindicatingtheobjectstudiedwithinthedisciplineofhumanbiology.'AsIdescribe,propersermon auditiondemandsaparticularaffective-volitionalresponsivenessfromthe listener-whatIwillcallanethicalperformance-asa con-ditionfor"understanding"ermonicspeech,whilesimultaneously deepeninganindi-vidual'scapacitytohearinthismanner.To"hearwith theheart,"as thoseI workedwith describedthisactivity,is notstrictlysomethingcognitivebut involves thebodyinitsentirety,asacomplex synthesisofdisciplinedmoral reflexes.Indeed,the menwith whomIworkedunderstoodthedegreeofbenefitachievedthroughsermon audi-tion to beproportionateo thedepthofmoralsensibility heywereabletobringo theact.Insofarasmyexplorationof thedisciplinaryshapingofsensory experienceover-lapsat anumberofpointswith Bourdieu's(1990)elaborationof thenotionofhabitus,it is best toclarifyat the outsethowmyworkdepartsfromBourdieu'sapproach.Bourdieudraws on the classicalnotionofhabitusin orderto describehowculturalpracticeis accommodatedtotheobjectiveconditionsthat formthebasis ofsocialclass.As a"systemofdurable,transposabledispositions"operatingbeneaththelevelofconsciousness,habitusdisposesindividualsand collectivestowardhistoricallyandculturallyspecificpatternsof behaviorconsonantwith,andsustainingof,theexistingdistributionsofpoliticaland economicpowerinsociety-whatBourdieugenerallyrefersto as"Capital"1990:53).Indelimitingthe fieldofpossibilityfor socialaction,such structuresofpower engenderinsocialactorsembodieddispositionscompatiblewith thesestructures.Habitus,inotherwords,mediatesbetweenobjectivestructuresandsubjectiveexperience.Inexploringthe formationofhabitussolelyin relationto historiesofsocioeco-nomicpower,however,Bourdieu leavesunaddressedtheextent to whichhabitusis
624
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
The Ethics of Listening - Cassette-Sermon Audition in Contemporary Egypt
485
Reads
0
Readcasts
0
Embed Views
Recommended
More From This User
Notes
Load more
