Focusing on the Jahriyya Sufis, this ethnography explores their distinct religious soundscape in northwest China. It highlights the significance of vocal recitation within this Sinophone order, showcasing insights gained from nearly a decade of fieldwork. The work provides a rare glimpse into the spiritual practices and cultural nuances of the Jahriyya, making it a vital contribution to the understanding of Sufi traditions.
The Contest of the Fruits takes a nineteenth-century Uyghur satirical poem as a departure point for investigations of language, politics, religion, humor, resilience, and resistance in a pluralistic world. Composed at the crossroads of multiple civilizations and empires and born of the Uyghurs' liminal position at the edges of Islam and the frontiers of China, "The Contest of the Fruits" captures a world in which borders are gateways rather than dividing lines. The poem, highly performative, embellished with verbal flourishes, and featuring the ribald rivalry of such fruits as mulberry, pomegranate, quince, and pear, may be the first Turkic rap battle