Cough sweets and angels: the ordinary ethics of the extraordinary in Sufi practice in Lebanon. (September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Clarke, Morgan
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Volume 20:Number 3(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 407
• Page End: 425
• Publication Date: 2014-09
• Subjects: Anthropology -- Periodicals; Ethnology -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1111/1467-9655.12117
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-0987

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>This article presents an ethnographic account of the social production of the miraculous in Sufi practice in Lebanon, including displays of bodily mortification. It examines the interdependence of the extraordinary and the ordinary/everyday, following, but problematizing, Max Weber's classic discussion of charismatic authority. For Weber the extraordinary lies outside the bounds of rules. Adopting the terms of some recent interventions in the anthropology of ethics, I claim on the contrary that the extraordinary has its ordinary ethics too. In so doing I not only add to the anthropology of wonder but also challenge those who would argue that anthropology's especial focus is on the ordinary, to the exclusion of its opposite. If this is not to be mere piety, sorting out what belongs to which category will prove challenging. Especially within the anthropology of religion, one can hardly do with one without the other.</p> </abstract>