Riffing on/as the Real
Towards Jazz as a Framework for Medieval Sufism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19230341 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cyril V Uy (0009-0005-4652-2693, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sophia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-1527 • E-ISSN: 1873-930X |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11841-026-01143-8 |
| OpenAlex | W7164154878 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
Taking Ibn ʿArabī’s (d. 638/1240) Allusions of the Qurʾān in the World of Man as its point of departure, this article explores jazz as a framework for the study of medieval Sufi knowledge. The first half introduces the jazz standard and develops its possibilities as a theoretical lens. Coupling musical analysis with the work of Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ingrid Monson, and Fumi Okiji, I frame jazz performance as a creative form of knowing/being constituted by a self-reflexive negotiation of ambivalence, multiplicity, and tension. The second half uses these reflections to guide a close reading of Ibn ʿArabī’s Allusions . (Re-)articulating Qurʾānic language and themes through the particularities of his own experience, I argue that Ibn ʿArabī’s writing opens up a play of identity and alterity that (re-)iterates the self-disclosure of God in/as creation. Through a subtle manipulation of allusion, rhyme, and rhythm, the shaykh shows his readers how multiplicities are unified through irreducible particularities and how unities make manifest irresolvable differences. In so doing, Ibn ʿArabī vaunts himself as the Perfect Human Being who not only comprehends reality, but consciously takes part in its production
Alterity · Identity (music) · Jazz · Kabbalah · Mysticism · Philosophy of religion · Reading (process) · Sufism · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · Islamic Studies and History · Medieval and Classical Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
|---|