Alevi and Bektashi Manuscript Traditions: A methodological overview
Online ZOOM lecture by Zeynep Oktay | Boğaziçi University Istanbul
Abstract This paper discusses the methodology necessary for the emerging field of Alevi Studies in its engagement with premodern manuscript sources, aiming to classify the literary corpus of Alevism and Bektashism and focusing on the various ways these texts engage with oral tradition. We can identify three categories of texts based on their relationship to orality: the first includes works produced by a single author that can be performed orally, the second encompasses texts compiled from oral accounts, and the third consists of poetry created either orally or in written form but later collected in cönks and mecmuas (miscellanea). All of these corpuses, resulting from different modes of production, require us to consider oral and written traditions in tandem. They necessitate the development of new methodologies that allow us to examine all variants of a given poem or story collectively.
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Poster (PDF)
This is the 3rd lecture in the webinar series for the academic year 2024-25 - organised by the NoMansLand research project (FWF Y 1232) dedicated to the study of Islamic manuscripts in pre-modern Iran and Central Asia.
Convenor: Project team "Nomads' Manuscripts Landscape"
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For a list of upcoming lectures in the webinar series, please see Webinar series "Pre-modern Islamic manuscripts"