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AUTHORITY AND PIETY, WRITING AND PRINT: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF THE CIRCULATION OF ISLAMIC TEXTS IN LATE NINETEENTH- AND EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY ZANZIBAR

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2011

Anne K. Bang
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Abstract

This article is a preliminary discussion of the circulation of textual material in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Zanzibar. Three main contentions are made in the article. First, that this corpus of texts constituted a public sphere that was intimately connected with the western Indian Ocean, primarily Arabia, but with branches to Egypt where much of the material was printed. Second, that the transition from manuscript mode of transmission to printed texts upheld the same principles for circulation. Finally, the article also points to how the use of this scriptural material as a basis for Islamic learning was expanded into new types of reading, reference, interpretation and copying. The article examines cases from Zanzibar, both manuscripts and printed books, from the point of view of the lifespan of the texts.

Résumé

Cet article est une discussion préliminaire de la circulation de matériel textuel à Zanzibar à la fin du dix-neuvième siècle et début du vingtième. Il pose trois grandes affirmations. Premièrement, que ce corpus de textes constituait une sphère publique intimement liée à l'océan Indien occidental, principalement l'Arabie, mais avec des ramifications en Égypte où était imprimé l'essentiel du matériel. Deuxièmement, que la transition du mode de transmission manuscrit au texte imprimé respectait les mêmes principes de circulation. Troisièmement, l'article montre également de quelle manière l'usage de ce matériel scriptural comme base d'apprentissage islamique a été étendu à de nouveaux types de lecture, de référence, d'interprétation et de copie. L'article examine des cas de Zanzibar, mêlant manuscrits et livres imprimés, du point de vue de la durée de vie des textes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 81 , Issue 1: Print Cultures, Nationalisms and Publics of the Indian Ocean , February 2011 , pp. 89 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2011

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