Edith Szanto
Biographic Data
| ID | 5178236 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Edith Szanto |
| GIVEN NAMES | Edith |
| FAMILY NAME | Szanto |
| SIGNATURE | SZANTO E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Alabama |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8896-8742 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 17 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The Art of Resistance in Islam: The Performance of Politics among Shi‘i Women in the Middle East and Beyond, By Yafa Shanneik
Journal Article The Art of Resistance in Islam: The Performance of Politics among Shi'i Women in the Middle East and Beyond, By Yafa Shanneik Get access The Art of Resistance in Islam: The Performance of Politics among Shi'i Women in the Middle East and Beyond By Yafa Shanneik Cambridge University Press, 2022. 288 pages. $99.99 (hardcover or e-book). Edith Szanto Edith Szanto University of Alabama [email protected] Search for other works by this aut…
Between Muslims: Religious Difference in Iraqi Kurdistan. By J. Andrew Bush
Between Muslims is a well written and accessible ethnography of “ordinary relationships” in the tradition of anthropologist Veena Das. The book is appropriate for upper-level undergraduates or even graduate students seeking an introduction to Islam or the Middle East. Readers will come to recognize intersections that are part of ordinary life. Though not necessarily addressed to specialists, Between Muslims is, nevertheless, groundbreaking and in…
Mourning Halabja on Screen: Or Reading Kurdish Politics through Anfal Films
Towards the end of the decade long Iran–Iraq war, Saddam Hussein launched a deadly attack against the Kurds, known as the Anfal Campaign, killing more than a hundred thousand. One of the largest acts of genocide occurred on 18 March 1988 in the Kurdish city of Halabja. On that day, sweet-smelling poison gas was poured over the city, killing at least five thousand. Since 2001 Kurdish moviemakers have memorialized the tragedy of the Halabja massacr…
Zoroaster was a Kurd!”: Neo-Zoroastrianism among the Iraqi Kurds
Disgusted with ISIS, some Kurds turned away from Islam following the fall of Mosul in 2014. Many became atheists, while others sought comfort in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism, according to converts, was the “original” religion of the Kurds before they embraced Islam. In 2015, two Zoroastrian centers opened in Sulaimani, both of which are recognized by the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Notably, neither has tried to recreate Zoroas…
Challenging transnational Shiʿi authority in Baʿth Syria
From the early 1970s until 2011, the Syrian shrine town of Sayyida Zaynab flourished as a minor centre of Shiʿi learning. It predominantly served Iraqi Shiʿi refugees, but also temporary visitors from Iran and the Gulf countries. The seminaries viewed it as their responsibility to draw in transient Shiʿa and turn them into students and loyal followers of important marājiʿ al-taqlīd or Shiʿi legal scholars who mainly reside in major centres of Shi…
Depicting Victims, Heroines, and Pawns in the Syrian Uprising
During the onslaught of the Islamic caliphate on Kobanî, Syria, media outlets across the globe broadcast pictures of brave and often unveiled Kurdish women fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), a quintessentially male force of destruction. The images of women fighting Islamist male aggressors aroused outrage, admiration, and pity among observers. But had all Kurdish fighters been male or had women fought for ISIS, viewers migh…
Illustrating an Islamic Childhood in Syria: Pious Subjects and Religious Authority in Twelver Shi’i Children’s Books
Szanto’s study examines a collection of Twelver Shi’i children’s books from the Syrian shrine-town of Sayyida Zaynab. As there are few Twelver Shi’is and Shi’i publishers in Syria, the Shi’i children’s books are imported from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. As a result, they reflect both local and regional conceptions and concerns. By drawing on the theoretical models offered by Judith Butler and Saba Mahmood, this article analyzes the processes of piou…
Sayyida Zaynab in the State of Exception: Shiʿi Sainthood as “Qualified Life” in Contemporary Syria
According to Giorgio Agamben, a “state of exception” is established by the sovereign's decision to suspend the law, and the archetypical state of exception is the Nazi concentration camp. At the same time, Agamben notes that boundaries have become blurred since then, such that even spaces like refugee camps can be thought of as states of exception because they are both inside and outside the law. This article draws on the notion of the state of e…
Visualizing Belief and Piety in Iranian Shi‘ism: By Ingvild Flaskerud (New York: Continuum, 2010. hbk. 306 pages.)
In her book, Ingvild Flaskerud once and for all dispels the idea that Islamlacks and opposes all forms of visual art. Hers is a pioneering work, whichguides her readers through Twelver Shi‘i visual culture in Iran. She framesher discussion by drawing on semiotic theory, particularly Charles SandersPeirce and Roland Barthes, in order to show both the interpretive possibilitiesinherent in visual piety and the ways in which meaning is fixed.Flaskeru…
Middle Eastern Belongings: By Diane King, ed. (New York: Routledge, 2010. 165 pages.)
Diane King captures the sentiment undergirding this book by quoting VirginiaDominguez and “returning to ‘bonds of affection for people or places’”(p. 10) in the conclusion of her introduction. She sums up the book’s chaptersas “hav[ing] in common attention to various ways of belonging in (and,in the case of the European headscarf debates, adjacent to and with referenceto) the Middle East. All treat Middle Eastern collectives as sites of what Herz…
Sayyida Zaynab in the State of Exception: Shiʿi Sainthood as “Qualified Life” in Contemporary Syria
According to Giorgio Agamben, a “state of exception” is established by the sovereign's decision to suspend the law, and the archetypical state of exception is the Nazi concentration camp. At the same time, Agamben notes that boundaries have become blurred since then, such that even spaces like refugee camps can be thought of as states of exception because they are both inside and outside the law. This article draws on the notion of the state of e…
Depicting Victims, Heroines, and Pawns in the Syrian Uprising
During the onslaught of the Islamic caliphate on Kobanî, Syria, media outlets across the globe broadcast pictures of brave and often unveiled Kurdish women fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), a quintessentially male force of destruction. The images of women fighting Islamist male aggressors aroused outrage, admiration, and pity among observers. But had all Kurdish fighters been male or had women fought for ISIS, viewers migh…
Zoroaster was a Kurd!”: Neo-Zoroastrianism among the Iraqi Kurds
Disgusted with ISIS, some Kurds turned away from Islam following the fall of Mosul in 2014. Many became atheists, while others sought comfort in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism, according to converts, was the “original” religion of the Kurds before they embraced Islam. In 2015, two Zoroastrian centers opened in Sulaimani, both of which are recognized by the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Notably, neither has tried to recreate Zoroas…
Challenging transnational Shiʿi authority in Baʿth Syria
From the early 1970s until 2011, the Syrian shrine town of Sayyida Zaynab flourished as a minor centre of Shiʿi learning. It predominantly served Iraqi Shiʿi refugees, but also temporary visitors from Iran and the Gulf countries. The seminaries viewed it as their responsibility to draw in transient Shiʿa and turn them into students and loyal followers of important marājiʿ al-taqlīd or Shiʿi legal scholars who mainly reside in major centres of Shi…
Visualizing Belief and Piety in Iranian Shi‘ism: By Ingvild Flaskerud (New York: Continuum, 2010. hbk. 306 pages.)
In her book, Ingvild Flaskerud once and for all dispels the idea that Islamlacks and opposes all forms of visual art. Hers is a pioneering work, whichguides her readers through Twelver Shi‘i visual culture in Iran. She framesher discussion by drawing on semiotic theory, particularly Charles SandersPeirce and Roland Barthes, in order to show both the interpretive possibilitiesinherent in visual piety and the ways in which meaning is fixed.Flaskeru…
Middle Eastern Belongings: By Diane King, ed. (New York: Routledge, 2010. 165 pages.)
Diane King captures the sentiment undergirding this book by quoting VirginiaDominguez and “returning to ‘bonds of affection for people or places’”(p. 10) in the conclusion of her introduction. She sums up the book’s chaptersas “hav[ing] in common attention to various ways of belonging in (and,in the case of the European headscarf debates, adjacent to and with referenceto) the Middle East. All treat Middle Eastern collectives as sites of what Herz…
Visualizing Belief and Piety in Iranian Shi‘ism: By Ingvild Flaskerud (New York: Continuum, 2010. hbk. 306 pages.)
In her book, Ingvild Flaskerud once and for all dispels the idea that Islamlacks and opposes all forms of visual art. Hers is a pioneering work, whichguides her readers through Twelver Shi‘i visual culture in Iran. She framesher discussion by drawing on semiotic theory, particularly Charles SandersPeirce and Roland Barthes, in order to show both the interpretive possibilitiesinherent in visual piety and the ways in which meaning is fixed.Flaskeru…
Illustrating an Islamic Childhood in Syria: Pious Subjects and Religious Authority in Twelver Shi’i Children’s Books
Szanto’s study examines a collection of Twelver Shi’i children’s books from the Syrian shrine-town of Sayyida Zaynab. As there are few Twelver Shi’is and Shi’i publishers in Syria, the Shi’i children’s books are imported from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. As a result, they reflect both local and regional conceptions and concerns. By drawing on the theoretical models offered by Judith Butler and Saba Mahmood, this article analyzes the processes of piou…
Sayyida Zaynab in the State of Exception: Shiʿi Sainthood as “Qualified Life” in Contemporary Syria
According to Giorgio Agamben, a “state of exception” is established by the sovereign's decision to suspend the law, and the archetypical state of exception is the Nazi concentration camp. At the same time, Agamben notes that boundaries have become blurred since then, such that even spaces like refugee camps can be thought of as states of exception because they are both inside and outside the law. This article draws on the notion of the state of e…
Depicting Victims, Heroines, and Pawns in the Syrian Uprising
During the onslaught of the Islamic caliphate on Kobanî, Syria, media outlets across the globe broadcast pictures of brave and often unveiled Kurdish women fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), a quintessentially male force of destruction. The images of women fighting Islamist male aggressors aroused outrage, admiration, and pity among observers. But had all Kurdish fighters been male or had women fought for ISIS, viewers migh…
Challenging transnational Shiʿi authority in Baʿth Syria
From the early 1970s until 2011, the Syrian shrine town of Sayyida Zaynab flourished as a minor centre of Shiʿi learning. It predominantly served Iraqi Shiʿi refugees, but also temporary visitors from Iran and the Gulf countries. The seminaries viewed it as their responsibility to draw in transient Shiʿa and turn them into students and loyal followers of important marājiʿ al-taqlīd or Shiʿi legal scholars who mainly reside in major centres of Shi…
Mourning Halabja on Screen: Or Reading Kurdish Politics through Anfal Films
Towards the end of the decade long Iran–Iraq war, Saddam Hussein launched a deadly attack against the Kurds, known as the Anfal Campaign, killing more than a hundred thousand. One of the largest acts of genocide occurred on 18 March 1988 in the Kurdish city of Halabja. On that day, sweet-smelling poison gas was poured over the city, killing at least five thousand. Since 2001 Kurdish moviemakers have memorialized the tragedy of the Halabja massacr…
Zoroaster was a Kurd!”: Neo-Zoroastrianism among the Iraqi Kurds
Disgusted with ISIS, some Kurds turned away from Islam following the fall of Mosul in 2014. Many became atheists, while others sought comfort in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism, according to converts, was the “original” religion of the Kurds before they embraced Islam. In 2015, two Zoroastrian centers opened in Sulaimani, both of which are recognized by the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq. Notably, neither has tried to recreate Zoroas…
Between Muslims: Religious Difference in Iraqi Kurdistan. By J. Andrew Bush
Between Muslims is a well written and accessible ethnography of “ordinary relationships” in the tradition of anthropologist Veena Das. The book is appropriate for upper-level undergraduates or even graduate students seeking an introduction to Islam or the Middle East. Readers will come to recognize intersections that are part of ordinary life. Though not necessarily addressed to specialists, Between Muslims is, nevertheless, groundbreaking and in…
The Art of Resistance in Islam: The Performance of Politics among Shi‘i Women in the Middle East and Beyond, By Yafa Shanneik
Journal Article The Art of Resistance in Islam: The Performance of Politics among Shi'i Women in the Middle East and Beyond, By Yafa Shanneik Get access The Art of Resistance in Islam: The Performance of Politics among Shi'i Women in the Middle East and Beyond By Yafa Shanneik Cambridge University Press, 2022. 288 pages. $99.99 (hardcover or e-book). Edith Szanto Edith Szanto University of Alabama [email protected] Search for other works by this aut…
History (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · History (6 works) · Islamic Studies and History (6 works) · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Ancient history (5 works) · Art (5 works)