[...] explain the processes that are inexplicable through other functional explanations ='lgc'>+ ="trms">affect exists as an object of power (political formations are reactive to and formed by ="trms">affect)
="brkr">
(="ppl">Naveeda ="ppl">Khan)
Jinns and ="trms">children
a place for a ="trms">child to build conviviality / continuity with a creature made of smokeless fire
(the girl) she charts through a modality of “hearing”
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..that which defines the normative, the duties, and ="trms">responsibilities that accompany observance of a ="trms">religious tradition.
="trms">different intensities by which the normative is reiterated
Jinns are also known to eavesdrop (esteragh-e sam’) on the angels in the lower reaches of heaven to acquire limited knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge of the future
the little mischievous spirits (nafs) that make up a self
='strcls'>**="trms">wonders of ="trms">children
="trms">children are born free of sin and have the ability to ="trms">communicate without reason (aghl) and therefore carry the threat of being easily led astray
8 year-old Maryam, channeling ="trms">communication between the jinn and her family
a time that she would look into the palms of her hand (to see what the jinn would have her see)
she ="trms">instructed the jinn that he could enter her father's body, with his per="trms">mission, jinn wanted to taste human food
her father and brothers would ="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listen carefully to her descriptions
(="trms">authoritative figure of the father becomes the pupil of his little daughter hearing her words of advice)='lgc'>--alterity
“in the middle east, the ="trms">child is seen as the crucial generational link in the family unit, the key to its continuation, the living person that ties the ="trms">present to the ="trms">past and to the future” (Ferena 1005)
“in the indian case ...the ="trms">child is seen as al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready being full person in domains to which the mother does not have access” (="ppl">Veena Das 1989)
...healer or magician may utilize a ="trms">child to bring into ="trms">presence or ="trms">communicate with the spiritual being
(='strcls'>***the ="trms">presence of ="trms">child in Ma'rekeh-Giri معرکه گیری='qstn'>?='strcls'>***)
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ecstatic identifications with...
one could legitimately dream of the prophet, but one could never call him forth
both these paths escape jinn, having a dynamic if disruptive ="trms">presence within human ="trms">world, alongside the ="trms">presence of angels and saints
there can be no other experience of the prophet other than through the record of his words and deeds='qstn'>?='qstn'>?!!!
the daily struggle to ="trms">presence the prophet
علما olama ='lgc'>=/= بچه bache
face-to-face ='lgc'>=/= via-jinn
face-to-face learning from the olama (the ="trms">authoritative transmitters) versus a faceless and voiceless jinn with his ="trms">child serving as its ventriloquist (arusak gardan)
activating competing bodies of knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge and sets of ="trms">relations
(in the hope that one of them will pay off)
insistence on a modicum ='lgc'>[minimum amount='lgc'>] of consistency
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...enmeshed within a certain unintentional malevolence existing alongside generosity.
="prgrph">-malevolence is something that holds out the possibility of harm rather than actively intending it
="prgrph">-generosity is the willingness to concede to others rather than a nobility of character
(also the dilemma of introducing the jinn to your ="trms">child)
“exposing” his ="trms">children to their disruptive yet generative powers
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‘exposure of ="trms">children to evil’
the innate resource of ="trms">children
(for Zezru) the ="trms">children are pure, they re="trms">present non-evil. they belong to shades. their innocence does not imply a state of passivity.
what regions of experience and expression the ="trms">child has access to='qstn'>?
innate resources of ="trms">children
Reynolds
="trms">children’s own resources are bolstered by the protection afforded by living and dead kin
a parent (or guardian), cannot know in advance what regions of experience and expression the ="trms">child has access to or what he or she is capable of
in Islam='lgc'>: ="trms">children are considered to have a certain strength and pre="trms">science that makes them effective as conduits to the ="trms">world of spirits ='lgc'>=/= innocent creatures to be protected
="lsts lst1">•="trms">children are free of ="trms">religious ="trms">obligations up to the age when they are seen as maturing
="lsts lst1">•protected by countercharms and exorcism only to an extent
a certain unintentional malevolence existing alongside generosity
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]malevolence='lgc'>: something that holds out the possibility of harm (='lgc'>=/= actively intending harm)
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]generosity='lgc'>: the willingness to concede to others (='lgc'>=/= a nobility of character)
="trms">religious ="trms">differences ='lgc'>--="trms">materialized='lgc'>='lgc'>-->
="lsts lst1">•as a malevolent witch
="lsts lst1">•in a father’s potentially malevolent ="trms">instrumentalization of his daughter (bringing the jinn home)
parsayi پارسایی
='strcls'>*pious self='lgc'> = com="trms">position of a series of ='strcls'>*presubjective singularities='strcls'>* (standing alongside one another ='lgc'>[within a milieu comprising other such series/="trms">seriousnesses='lgc'>])
='lgc'>=/= self-contradictory subject arching toward resolution
='lgc'>=/= norm-bearing subject that has achieved coherence
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(='strcls'>*presubjective singularities='strcls'>*)
let's explore how a self moves alone this series of singularities, what brings about movement, and where may it be tending ='lgc'>[wohin='lgc'>]
='lgc'>='lgc'>---="ppl">Naveeda='lgc'>='lgc'>--> presubjective singularities='lgc'>: ="trms">different versions of oneself that are not sharply distinguished from one another but are nonetheless distinct
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]subjectivity='lgc'>: whatever you do set yourself apart from others
Maryam's father, has moved from a version of himself that he knew to other versions of himself of which he did not have ="trms">prior knowl="trms"nttrm="knowledge,Knowledge">edge
his movement was toward the jinn and then away from them. so not in the series that constituted ‘him’, but also moved toward the series constituting the jinn. a zone of jinn becoming.
(or human becoming for the jinn)
allowing himself to be a multiplicity
“Our faith had become weak and our ="trms">obligatory worship was suffering.”
is Sulayman (the jinn) then the arc of a certain line of flight for Maryam='qstn'>?
friendship between a human (little sunni girl) and a nonhuman (jinn) ='lgc'>[='lgc'><='lgc'>-- enabled ='and'>& nurtured by the possibilities of malevolence ='lgc'>+ generosity='lgc'>] ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> movement within a field of negativity ='lgc'>==="ppl">Naveeda='lgc'>='lgc'>==> a means of gaining voice
artificiality of need in the everyday ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> this view eclipses what is at stake in the everyday life, what jeopardized it ="trms">internally and externally
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='strcls'>*the formation of selves within contemporary Muslim ="trms">societies='lgc'>:
(A) existence of multiple selves within an individual, which is context-dependent and ="trms">intersubjective. the individual may espouse ="trms">different self-re="trms">presentations at ="trms">different moments, these are not viewed as inconsistent to the illusion of wholeness (Ewing 1997)
(B) the subject acts on herself in such a way as to make the norm constitute her as pious self. this is a self that is generated through its particular emergence from and ="trms">interpenetration with, the norm. (Mahmood 2001)
(C) the self as the realm of presubjective possibilities. in ="ppl">Deleuze words “impersonal and pre-individual singularities” exists within a plane of immanence. “far from being individual or personal, singularities preside (take over and govern) over the genesis of individuals and persons; they are distributed in a ‘potential’ which admits neither Self not I, but which produces them by actualizing or realizing itself, although the figures of this actualization do not at all resemble the realized potential.” the actualizations are in link with his plane of immanence. (="ppl">Deleuze 1990)
a given individual moves between these qualities without necessarily ="trms">morphing into entirely ="trms">different selves ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='strcls'>***="trms">difference ="trms">internal to being='strcls'>***
(that ‘="trms">difference’ is ="trms">internal to being)
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to betray the immediate norm (of this ="trms">society) (to ensure a continued ="trms">relationship with them)
but i am al="trms"nttrm="already,spread">ready moving to my next self
='strcls'>*ethics of ="trms"nttrm="listen,alist,ilist,llist,olist,ylist,ulist">listening
(1) ="trms">gestures as cultural text (="ppl">Clifford ="ppl">="frds scrmbld">Geertz)
(2) ="trms">codes to crack the regulative mechanisms of a ="trms">society (="ppl">="frds scrmbld">Pierre ="ppl">Bourdieu)
(3) how thinking proceeds apace with ="trms">gestures, how ="trms">gestures gather thought, sounded and unsounded, and how voice is incorporative ='lgc'>[tending to incorporate or in="trms"nttrm="cluster,club">clude things='lgc'>] of these ="trms">gestures
(="ppl">Heidegger shows)
="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical ="trms">relation='lgc'>: think ='lgc'>='lgc'>==> speech
(only when one speaks, does he think='lgc'>--not the other way around)
temporality of ="trms">memory
(...it took them two years to re="trms">member to tell me this)
possession='lgc'>: is to be struck by any number of somatic illnesses or psychic effects of mysterious o="trms"nttrm="righ,rigo,riga,rigi,trig,rign">rigins (Bown 1993)
mytho="trms">poetic (registers of Qur'an)
mytho="trms">poetic registers of everyday life
Jinn can trick the humans into looking at a copy of them (and then change form or into formlessness)
the copies of time-honored practice of ="trms">embodying and transmitting the islamic tradition is now haunted by ='strcls'>*="trms">modern ="trms">anxieties='strcls'>*
Asb-e Imam-Hossein
it is in islamic tradition that being a muslim entails keeping up the illusory ="trms">nature of everyday life while also participating in it. (not ="trms">excessive withdrawal nor ="trms">excessive attachment)
='lgc'>[why isis breaks this='qstn'>?='lgc'>]
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='lgc'>[='not'>✕='lgc'>] ="trms">technologies of the “here and now”
='lgc'>[='not'>✕='lgc'>] ="trms">semiotic-tech of “elsewheres”
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>-->
(separated in the ="trms">past, ='strcls'>*="trms">ontological ="trms">difference='strcls'>*, a ="trms">fiction) in West='lgc'>: (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ='thdf'>that is why ="ppl">="ppl">Latour ="trms">anthropologizes ="trms">modernism)
='strcls'>*='lgc'>[philosophy='lgc'>]='lgc'>--signals='lgc'>='lgc'>--> here (in Europe and West), selves
='strcls'>*='lgc'>[="trms">anthropology='lgc'>]='lgc'>--signals='lgc'>='lgc'>--> elsewhere, others ='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a wannabe discourse on Others
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> (="trms">ontological ="trms">difference between ="trms">anthropology ='and'>& philosophy ='lgc'>[in their mode of immersion in the ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphysical='lgc'>] is part of) colonial ="trms">community, a form of ‘negation’ ='lgc'>=/= my recent antagonism ='lgc'>[the way i am studying is for ='strcls'>*extension='strcls'>*='lgc'>{= extending but also standing in tension with, a lineage(='lgc'>=/= rupture)='lgc'>} rather than ='strcls'>*negation='strcls'>*='lgc'>]='lgc'>: since i got into ="ppl">Olearius, 2017, I am developing recently a philosphpical-genealogical antagonism. (in ="nms">Iran we are used to philosophy ="trms">naturally inhabiting the otherness of Europe, among others, we never see them as ="trms">anthropological objects, but they see us as such. ='strcls'>*we don't think ethnographically about Others='strcls'>*)
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> my aim is to mix this while i am “here” ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> i say life (also power and ethics) comes to attention ="trms">simultaneously ="trms">anthropologically and philosophically from elsewhere and here ='lgc'>[='lgc'>='lgc'>--> to reed something from the outside ='lgc'>='lgc'>~= reterritorialization (of concepts, ="trms">interests, ="trms">affects, percepts,)='lgc'>]='lgc'>='lgc'>--> when concepts are reterritorialized they illuminate the ="trms">world ="trms">differently
='strcls'>*we need better construction of ="trms">past for building truly decolonial ="trms">community='strcls'>* ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- is my antagonism needed for this='qstn'>?
="trms">anthropology='lgc'>: a mode of heightened attentiveness to life
(="ppl">Singh)
="ppl">="ppl">Foucault, ="ppl">Benjamin, ="ppl">Derrida, ="ppl">Deleuze ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> a loss of ="trms">anthropologically generated theory
(more than once in a single day i find myself paused to ="trms">wonder at) how thought moves
(long-standing philosophical between) dialectical and nondialectical genealogies of thought
="prgrph">-to be drawn to nondialectical is not the negation of dialectical, it is a way of thinking about the “="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">meta"-physics (="ppl">Singh)
philosophy reconciders this='lgc'>: ‘concepts come more explicitly to the surface as impressions grow into thoughts’ ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> no! no!
how philosophy relates to and draws on nonphilosophy (is usually geographical='strcls'>*)
more ="trms">differences='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•geographical='lgc'>: western/non-western
="lsts lst1">•naional='lgc'>: indian/french
="lsts lst1">•subdisciplinary='lgc'>: analytic/continental
(="trms">trajectories of Derrica, a tradition of) negative transcendence='lgc'>: différance, an absence that transcends “a” and “not a” ='lgc'>[='lgc'>=/= (="trms">trajectories of ="ppl">Deleuze, a tradition of) affirmative immanence, the self-="trms">differentiating intensities of “a”, com="trms">presence of “a"='lgc'>]
some ="ppl">Deleuzian terms='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•assemblages
="lsts lst1">•deterritorization
="lsts lst1">•becoming
="lsts lst1">•multiplicities
="lsts lst1">•="trms">excess
="lsts lst1">•="trms">schizophrenia (='lgc'>~ nondialectical thought, a nondialectical expression of ="trms">different polarities held together. use ‘split’ to create a philosophy, ='lgc'>[the ‘split’ ="trms">="trms"nttrm="metaph,metamorph,metabol,metal">metaphore is='lgc'>] an argument for the dynamism and temporality of the structure ='lgc'>=/= dialectical ="trms">historism and the ="ppl">Freudian unconscious) ='lgc'>-- ="trms">schizophrenia marks an unresolved, nondialectical tension
='lgc'>}='lgc'>='lgc'>--> giving me a range of concepts with which to inhabit a plenitude of life ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> we need to create/borrow/steal/appropriate a range of concepts with which to inhabit the plenitude of life (in ="nms">Tehran) that exceeds all the time. (that which the political consciousness of contemporary ="nms">Tehran fails to grasp.) ='strcls'>***between moments of (my) departure and return (to ="nms">Iran) lay a whole ="trms">world, full of life (and hope)='strcls'>***
="ppl">Deleuze's hostility to dialectics
“we will misunderstand the whole of ="ppl">Nietzsche's work if we do not see ‘against whom’ its principal concepts are directed”
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]dialectics='lgc'>:
="lstsrd">1- ='thdf'>the idea of a power of the negative as a theoretical principle manifested in op="trms">position and contra="trms">diction
="lstsrd">2- the valorization of the “sad passions” as a practical principle ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> “the unhappy consciousness is the subject of the whole dialectic” (="ppl">Nietzsche)
="lstsrd">3- ='thdf'>the idea of ="trms">positivity as a theoretical and practical product of negation itself
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Hegelian='lgc'>: a determinate negation, followed by a “higher” synthesis
="lsts lst1">•="ppl">Badiou 2000, Jameson 2009, Zizek 200k, a counterwave of contemporary dialecticians
dialectics='lgc'>: a habit of thought='lgc'>--variably expressed in ="trms">anthropology and philosophy and critical theory
postcolonial theory, critical theory, cultural studies ='lgc'><='lgc'>--(descendants of)='lgc'>-- negative dialectics ='lgc'>=/= affirmative nondialectics
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to notice (over time) in ="nms">Tehran='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•="trms">relations involving ="trms">intergenerational servitude and nonnegotiable indebtedness
="lsts lst1">•expressed ="trms">relations of power
="lsts lst1">•other modes of spiritual and ="trms">material relatedness (that would be lost if i were to tell a ="trms">story that was only a variant of a master-slave dialectic)='strcls'>*
="lsts lst1">•ascetic qualities
="lsts lst1">•activist qualities
="lsts lst1">•='strcls'>*ways in which state power is implicated (behampichidan به هم پیچیدن) in the lives='strcls'>*
how do we piece together a ="trms">world='qstn'>?
="nms">ajayeb.net ='lgc'>=/= catalogue of ethnographic curiosities (='lgc'><='lgc'>-- be very carefull with this kind, ='at'>#wunderkammer)
encroachment tajavoz تجاوز
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super important ="trms">questions for ="nms">Iranians='lgc'>:
="lsts lst1">•(the ="trms">question of) ='strcls'>*how we conceive of the state='strcls'>* and the hopes and disappointments that issue from those conceptions
="lsts lst1">•are there other ways to conceive sovereignty='qstn'>? ='lgc'>[other than the ="ppl">Agambenian conception='lgc'>: the sovereign power exerts a near totalizing force over an ="trms">abyss of “bare life"='lgc'> = state. (="ppl">Agamben's) decisionist totalizing ="trms">authority ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- (Schmitt's) secularized theological concepts ='lgc'><='lgc'>-- (="ppl">Hobbes’) theological ='thdf'>assumption of an omnipotence god='lgc'>] (='lgc'>--='not'>✕='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="ppl">Singh's very nice criticism='lgc'>:) “="ppl">Agamben's transcendentally negative dialectical concept of sovereingnty entails a totalizing elevation of Varuna (the terrible) in such a way as to wholly eliminate the potentialities, threats, and possibilities of Mitra ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> in its contemporary political philosophy most ="nms">iranians tend this way (in everyday life and forms)
="lsts lst1">•how might we ="trms">imagine a political theology that en="trms">folds more ambivalent potentialities='qstn'>? ='strcls'>****
="lsts lst1">•
(="ppl">Agamben swinging between the heightened extremes of redemption and catastrophe ='lgc'>[='at'>@="frds scrmbld">Lenna='lgc'>] ='lgc'>=/= ) ="ppl">Singh's bipolar concept, reconceptualization (of Dumezil arguing, ='strcls'>*force='strcls'>* and ='strcls'>*contract='strcls'>* together constitute sovereignty)='lgc'>:
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]Romulus (& Varuna) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> warrior ambitions ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> terrible and violent aspect of sovereignty; Varuna (='lgc'>--="ppl">="ppl">Foucault='lgc'>='lgc'>-->) as punitive power and force ="trms">morph into a range of disciplinary mechanisms ='lgc'>[='strcls'>*in a way ="ppl">="ppl">Foucault's entire carrier can be understood as a way of engaging Varuna in ="trms">different forms='lgc'>]
='lgc'>[='strcls'>*='lgc'>]Numa (& Mitra) ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> peaceful elder ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> ="trms">embody contract, the friendlier, pact-making aspect of sovereignty (='lgc'>='lgc'>==> rule of law), producer of welfare and health and productive economy
khoshunat ='lgc'>+ refah خشونت و رفاه
we have to engage paradoxes of state power='lgc'>: capacity and incapacity (='lgc'>='lgc'>--> my point='lgc'>: the state in ="nms">Iran is ambiguous.)
='at'>#workshop='lgc'>: Studying State Power='lgc'>='lgc'>---in ="nms">Tehran we must explore theoretical alternatives to the concept of force='lgc'>: consent, contract, ="ppl">Singh's bipolar theory of force and contract, varying ideas of the “magic” of the state, ="ppl">="ppl">Foucault's governmentality ='lgc'>='lgc'>--> contemporary ="trms">anthropology of the state, we examine varying pictures of state incapacity
="lsts lst1">•requirements='lgc'>: willingness to engage challenging concepts and texts, weekly online comment, class ="trms">presentations and participation
="lsts lst1">•aims='lgc'>: a final essay='lgc'>: to make a coherent argument drawing on ="trms">anthropological and theoretical ="trms">literatures on sta[...]