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" Pathways to God: The Islamic Acoustics of Turkish Berlin "
Peter McMurray
Kaufman Shelemay, Kay
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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803196
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| Doc. No
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TL47976
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| Call number
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1625423057; 3645030
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| Main Entry
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Thomas, Samuel R.
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| Title & Author
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Pathways to God: The Islamic Acoustics of Turkish Berlin\ Peter McMurrayKaufman Shelemay, Kay
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| College
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Harvard University
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| Date
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2014
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| field of study
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Music
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| student score
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2014
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| Page No
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445
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| Note
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Committee members: Kafadar, Cemal; Wolf, Richard
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| Note
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Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-321-33505-7
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| Abstract
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In fall of 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected and West Germany, the Bundesrepublik, initiated a guest worker program with Turkey. These two events would dramatically reshape Berlin, as many immigrants settled just west of the Berlin Wall—especially in the boroughs of Wedding, Kreuzberg, and Neukölln—transforming, augmenting, and adapting to local cultural life. Among these transformations, new sonic cultures emerged, with Islam, in all its diversity, playing a crucial role in that process. The Islamic acoustics that continues to thrive today in Berlin raises significant questions about the nature of sound in Islamic practice: How does Islam sound? In what ways does sound articulate and generate difference both between Muslims and non-Muslims, but also among different Muslim communities? How can an acoustics of Islam help elucidate the workings of a metropolis like Berlin, and vice-versa? Turning to Islamic thought as a theoretical framework, I consider how indigenous notions of pathways enunciate these sonic processes and their material manifestations. After sketching a brief sonic history of Turkish Berlin, I attempt to sonically map some of these Islamic pathways through the city. Charting a route through these major diasporic neighborhoods, I focus on a single religious community, or pathway, in each chapter, along with a particular material aspect of sound as a sacred articulation of difference. I begin with an exploration of the voice in Cerrahi Sufi zikr ceremonies in Wedding, where reciting God's names becomes an act of tasting (Chapter 1). Then in Kreuzberg, I consider the relationship of bodies (especially fingers) and instruments through the Alevi <i>bağlam </i>a, a musical instrument called 'the stringed Qur'an' (Chapter 2). I continue to expand outward in the following two chapters, which examine mosques in Neukölln as sonic spaces: first, the interiors of a Caferi Shi`i mosque as they commemorate the deaths of martyrs; then, the exterior courtyard space of the Sunni Şehitlik mosque and cemetery. I conclude with a media archaeology of angels and a brief meditation on Islamic teachings about God's hearing, both of which suggest ways a more attentive listening to Islam might expand our conceptions of sound.
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| Subject
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Religious history; Middle Eastern history; European history; Music; European Studies; Islamic Studies
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| Descriptor
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Philosophy, religion and theology;Social sciences;Communication and the arts
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| Added Entry
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Kaufman Shelemay, Kay
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MusicHarvard University
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