CANCELLED: March 31: Proto-Secular Spaces? Mapping Infidelity in the Poetry of ʿAṭṭār

CANCELLED: This event has been cancelled in support of the Graduate Workers of Columbia strike.

Wednesday, March 31, 2021, 4:10 PM-6:00 PM EST

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In this Colloquium, Cyrus Ali Zargar will discuss his article entitled "Sober in Mecca, Drunk in Byzantium: Antinomian Space in the Poetry of ʿAṭṭār."

Like other classical Persian Sufi poets, ʿAṭṭār takes interest in spaces associated with infidelity: the tavern, ruins, monastery, church, and idol-temple. Subversive and even transformational, these spaces liberate the subject from, among other things, piety itself. This paper explores the idea that we might call such symbolic spaces “proto-secular.”

Learn more about the Adab Colloquium at MEI here.

If you are interested in attending this event please download the pre-circulated reading.