MEMORY, PLACE AND NOSTALGIA: COSMOPOLITAN NOSTALGIA AND SUFISM IN AMERICA

Authors

  • Shermeen Bano Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
  • Rahla Rahat Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
  • Ayesha Siddiqa Bugvi Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52567/pjsr.v3i4.421

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between memory, place and identity through nostalgic construction of mystic practices at a sufi dergah in New York. In doing so we are interested in examining the way nostalgia is implicated in modern and multicultural religious communities in the West. The findings of this study are derived from an ethnographic field observation and in-depth interviews conducted between January 2012 to April 2012 in New York, USA. Participants of this study included religious practitioners that attended and participated in the events at the Sufi dergah regularly while recognizing themselves as disciples of the Sufi order. In total, 15 participants were interviewed. Findings of this paper suggest modern nostalgics are not simply passive consumers of hegemonic narratives of memory and place. Rather they are active participants in the creation of common places that represent conjunction of multiple histories (Massey, 1995) and therefore, are both multilocal as well as multivocal (Sheldrake, 2001).

Keywords: Memory, place, identity, nostalgia, sufism

Author Biographies

  • Shermeen Bano, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Visiting Faculty

  • Rahla Rahat, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Assistant Professor

  • Ayesha Siddiqa Bugvi, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Lecturer

Additional Files

Published

2021-12-31

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 4 (2021): Pakistan Journal of Social Research (PJSR)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Shermeen Bano, Rahla Rahat, Ayesha Siddiqa Bugvi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

[1]
“MEMORY, PLACE AND NOSTALGIA: COSMOPOLITAN NOSTALGIA AND SUFISM IN AMERICA”, Pak. J, Soc. Sci., vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 704–712, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.52567/pjsr.v3i4.421.