Training Kamish. Acoustic Ethnographies of Islam and Challenges of Sound in the Construction of Subjectivities

Abstract

This paper discusses how religion through music is inscribed in different ways on people’s practices and specific speeches. First, it suggests an argument that explores sound thinking and its strategies related to the production of subjectivities, so that to apply it to the context of sacred music of Islam in general and particularly to the Ney's flute teaching in Istanbul. Second, it shows the duo oratory and music teaching expressed by way of the interaction between students and teachers, which are suggested as a touchstone for the understanding of sound throughout the production of subjectivities in the spiritual Islam. Finally, the paper shows and discusses the frames of experience where the speeches coming from the Muslim mysticism are inscribed and where spiritual disciplines and their practitioners define their effectiveness.