Gould, Rebecca Ruth
2010
The Modernity of Premodern Islam in Contemporary Daghestan
Contemporary Islam: Dynamics of Muslim Life
5
2
161-183
This essay studies the relations between past and present forms of Islam in the Republic of Daghestan, situated in the northern Caucasus (present day Russia). I show how Daghestani urban and rural geographies demonstrate that the post-Soviet turn to Islam looks beyond colonial legacies, seeking meaning in a post-secular present. From Islamic bookstores to scholarly archives, I explore the historical background of Daghestan’s long-standing encounter with the Arabo-Islamic world and seek through a diverse series of ethnographic reflections to contribute to the theorization of modernity in contemporary Islamic societies.
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