Mittwoch, 23. Oktober 2024, 17:00 - 18:30 iCal
Ringvorlesung Turkologie Wintersemester 2024/25
Cultural Heritage in the Middle East and Central Asia: Conservation and Destruction
October 9th, 2024 - January 22th, 2025, 5PM - 6:30PM
Institut für Orientalistik, Hörsaal
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 4.1 (Campus Universität Wien), A-1090 Wien
Hybrider Event (an einem physischen Ort und online)
When are Domes Acceptable?: Logics of Sacred Site Destruction in Chinese Central Asia
Rian Thum (University of Manchester)
Abstract
China’s recent policies in Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang) have been labelled by governments and international organizations variously as genocide and crimes against humanity. Given that many of these policies aim to transform or eradicate Uyghur culture, it is not surprising that the state has demolished some of the most important sacred historical sites in the region. But the destruction is not universal. The number of sacred sites that remain physically intact appears to be larger than the number destroyed. And while thousands of mosques in China proper have had their domes removed, domes in Eastern Turkistan have not been targeted with such consistency. The unevenness in heritage destruction is particularly surprising in light of the comprehensiveness of China’s other policies of cultural eradication, such as the effort to forcibly place 100% of Uyghur middle school children in assimilationist residential schools.
This lecture surveys China’s patterns of heritage preservation, destruction, and invention among its Muslim communities over the last decade and places them in deeper historical context. It seeks the logic behind these patterns, which is produced by the interaction of multiple forces, including genocidal aspirations, international pressure, domestic tourism, Chinese orientalism, Han ethno-nationalism, and the influences of the very cultures targeted for eradication.
Bio
Rian Thum is a specialist in the history and anthropology of Muslims in China at the University of Manchester, where he is a Senior Lecturer. His book, The Sacred Routes of Uyghur History, argues for the central role of sacred sites and local Islamic manuscripts in the shaping of Uyghur national identity. Thum is Associate Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and a former fellow of the National Humanities Center and the American Council of Learned Societies. His current book project, Islamic China, is a re-examination of Chinese Islams that takes full account of the numerous Persian and Arabic sources that Chinese-speaking Muslims have used and written. His most recent publication is “The Naqshbandiyya Mujaddidiyya in China,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 34 (2), 2024.
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Veranstalter
Kontakt
Ayse Dilsiz Hartmuth
Institut für Orientalistik
+43-1-4277-43405
ayse.dilsiz.hartmuth@univie.ac.at
Erstellt am Donnerstag, 19. September 2024, 11:25
Letzte Änderung am Montag, 23. September 2024, 07:50