The Calligraphic State
Textual Domination and History in a Muslim Society
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of California Press
Published:20th Feb '97
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In this innovative combination of anthropology, history, and postmodern theory, Brinkley Messick examines the changing relation of writing and authority in a Muslim society from the late nineteenth century to the present. The creation and interpretation of texts, from sacred scriptures to administrative and legal contracts, are among the fundamental ways that authority is established and maintained in a complex state. Yet few scholars have explored this process and the ways in which it changes, especially outside the Western world. Messick brings together intensive ethnography and textual analysis from a wealth of material: Islamic jurisprudence, Yemeni histories, local documents. In exploring the structure and transformation of literacy, law, and statecraft in Yemen, he raises important issues that are of comparative significance for understanding political life in other Muslim and nonwestern states as well.
ISBN: 9780520205154
Dimensions: 232mm x 156mm x 23mm
Weight: 499g
324 pages