Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi's Attempts at Religious Revivalism in South Asia

Author(s): Belkacem Belmekki

Source: Anthropos , 2014, Bd. 109, H. 2. (2014), pp. 621-626
Published by: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43861798

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 Berichte und Kommentare 62 1

historisch besondere kognitive

Honneth und H. Joas.) Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. (Suhrkamp- L
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Taschenbucl^ Wissenschaft, 625) [1981]
melsscheibe von Nebra
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zu erklären? Aber eine Theorie ist keine Alles-Er- 1990 Die Grundlagen primitiven Denkens. München: Klett-
Cotta im Dt. Taschenbuch- Verlag, (dtv, 4534) [1979]
klärungs-Theorie. Dass sie bestimmte Phänomene
Lévy-Bruhl, Luden
nicht erklären kann, spricht nicht gegen ihre Rich-
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tigkeit, sondern nur gegen ihre Anwendbarkeit für
schaftliche Buchgesellschaft. [1922]
jeden historischen Einzelfall.
Lurija, Aleksandr R.
Dies schmälert nicht den Wert des psychogeneti-
1987 Die historische Bedingtheit individueller Erkenntnis-
schen Ansatzes (psychogenetisch steht für sich ent-
prozesse. Berlin: Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften.
wickelnde psychische Strukturen) und angewendet [1974]
auf die Gesellschaft, der strukturgenetischen So-
Oesterdiekhoff, Georg W.
ziologie. Beide Bände, insbesondere der Springer-
2012 Die geistige Entwicklung der Menschheit. Weilerswist:
Band, bieten eine reiche Fundgrube empirischer Velbrück Wissenschaft.
Einzelheiten wie über mittelalterliche Tierprozesse
20 1 3 Die Entwicklung der Menschheit von der Kindheitsphase
zur Erwachsenenreife. Berlin: Springer Verlag für Sozial-
oder Afrika (Dinzelbacher 2006; Grill 2005; u. a.), wissenschaften.
mitunter so unglaublich und erschreckend, dass
man als Leser in verschiedenen OriginalquellenPiaget,
de- Jean
1975 Gesammelte Werke. Studienausgabe. 10 Bde. Stuttgart:
ren Richtigkeit überprüfen will (und leider bestätigt Klett.
findet). Im Anspruch und weitgehend eingelösten
Pinker, Steven
Versprechen, eine Theorie der Geschichte vorzule-
20 1 1 Gewalt. Eine neue Geschichte der Menschheit. Frankfurt:
gen, die Entstehung der Moderne zu erklären und Fischer.
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alte große Soziologie wie von Comte, Weber, Som-
1984 Soziale Struktur und Vernunft. Jean Piagets Modell ent-
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das eigene Denken stimulieren, auch dort, wo man der Forschung. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. (Suhrkamp-Ta-
schenbuch Wissenschaft, 365)
ihm widersprechen möchte (etwa in der höheren
Gewichtung einer historischen wie individuellen Sesardic, Neven
Wissensakkumulation, empirische Falschheit ist 2005 Making Sense of Heritability. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
nicht logischer Widerspruch usw.). Oesterdiekhoff-
Erstlesern würde ich raten, mit dem Velbrück-Band Uslucan, Haci-Halil
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verschiedenen relevanten Empiriebereichen, insbe-
sondere auch der Ethnologie, sollte aber von einem
Lektor durchgesehen werden.

Zitierte Literatur

Dinzelbacher, Peter
2006 Das fremde Mittelalter. Gottesurteil und Tierprozess. Es-
sen: Magnus-Verlag.
Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi's Attempts
at Religious Revivalism in South Asia
Elias, Norbert
1976 Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und
Belkacem Belmekki
psychogenetische Untersuchungen. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
(Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft, 158) [1939]

Flynn, James R.
Many historians land contemporaries of early Brit-
2012 Are We Getting Smarter? Rising IQ in the Twenty-First
Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ish India bear witness to the fact that the Muslim

Grill, Bartholomäus community in the Indian subcontinent suffered

more than any other community there as a result
2005 Ach, Afrika. Berichte aus dem Inneren eines Kontinents.
München: Goldmann. (Goldmann, 15337) [2003] of the imposition of British rule by the mid-eigh-
Habermas, Jürgen teenth century. In fact, Muslims faced serious set-
backs
1988 Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. (Hrsg. von A. that were deliberately created by the East In-

Anthropos 109.2014

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 622 Berichte und Kommentare

dia Company To that end, Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi

officials, and urged this aff
and in all his community
walks of to return
life. to the Islamic In
religion to such cir
found seek salvation. trailing
themselves He stated that only God can be re-far behin
low countrymen. lied on, and Muslims
Hence,should stick to God's sacred
it was aga
background book, namelysome
that the Holy Quran (Spear 1990: 224 f.).
Muslim figu
subcontinent took the initiative to save Islam and In fact, he staunchly believed that the Quran was
Muslims from further disgrace and deterioration.the In one and only source that provided guidance to
this article, the main focus of attention will be given
the right path as well as knowledge to the entire hu-
to the person of Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi,1 consid- manity, and that it is the real success for Muslims in
ering his long-lasting impact on later generationstheof earthly life and in the hereafter (Islam 2004: 90).
Indian Muslims in South Asia. With this in mind, he blazed a trail in undertaking
In the eighteenth century, Shah Waliy Allah the task of translating the Holy Quran into Persian
Dehlavi was one of those who saw in the political so as to make it understood by the whole Muslims
of the Indian subcontinent (Spear 1990: 225). In
decline of Muslims in the subcontinent a prelude to
a total religious disintegration. His fears were fur-
fact, the kind of Persian he used was simple and
ther accentuated by the misunderstanding, andconversational,
in and the aim behind this endeavour
some instances, ignorance of Islam by his commu- was to bring Indian Muslims closer to the teachings
nity mainly as a result of the centuries' long interac-
of the Quran and to develop their intellectual under-
tion with the Hindu community as well as the recent standing of its contents hereafter (Islam 2004: 91).
contact with the western thought (Malik 1980: 41). About the language Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi used
Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi was convinced that in his translation of the Quran Archad Islam stated
unless Muslims went back to their religion in order that it was "so simple that anyone who knew the el-
to face the challenge of Hinduism, permanent deca- ements of Persian would understand the meaning of
dence of the Muslim community in India would en- the Quran, particularly the soldiers and the children
sue. In his opinion, Muslims in India had to preserve of the commoners" (2004: 91).
their distinct identity as being different from the restIt should be noted that Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi
of the Indians, particularly Hindus. In order to was do spurred to undertake such a pioneering work
so, Muslims should restrict their interaction with the by the fact that there was a misconception among
latter, or else, Islamic values would go up in smoke. the Muslim community that the learning and under-
As confirmed by Hafeez Malik (1980: 41): standing of the Quran was a field strictly reserved
for intellectuals, whereas the commoners could only
While the Hindu culture has always been assimilative,
read it without reflecting on it (Islam 2004: 90 f.).
and willing to synthesize with other religions, Islam had
to face the problem of preserving its distinct identity,
According to Archad Islam, the primary objec-
which closer cultural relations with the Hindu society behind Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi 's endeavour
tive
would progressively erode. to popularise the Quran was to inculcate Muslims
with the fundamentals of Islam before they learnt
Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi uttered a cry for Islam much of the Hindu beliefs (2004: 91). To put it in
in danger in the subcontinent and, as a Muslim the- a nutshell, it is worth quoting the same historian
ologian, he felt duty bound to do something to save who stated that Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi tried to
his religion and co-religionists from further disinte- "liberate the [Muslim] community from the brunt
gration. Therefore, he, and his followers,2 embarked of un-Islamic beliefs and malpractices, and to in-
on a revivalist and reformist campaign amongst the stil the supremacy of the Islamic Shari'ah and the
Muslim community in India that encouraged com- Quranic teaching in the daily life of Muslims" (Is-
munal tendencies and attitudes common to Muslimslam 2004:91).
only, mainly in religious thinking. On the other hand, Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi ar-
gued that all religions of the world, except Islam,
were corrupted due to innovations brought about by
1 Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi (1703-1762) was born to a con-
different
servative Muslim family in India. He received a traditional
doctrines. Nonetheless, to his dismay, the
Islamic education and memorised the Holy Quran at the age Islamic religion in India was subject to the same
situation. In his opinion, that was due to interac-
of 7. As a theologian later on, he founded a modern Islamic
thought and attempted to reappraise Islamic theology in light
tion with the Hindu community, which made Mus-
of the new circumstances in the Indian subcontinent.
lims adopt un-Islamic practices (Karandikar 1968:
2 Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi 's notable followers were Shah Ab-
dul Aziz (1746-1831), Sayyid Ahmed Shahid (1786-1831), 1 27). He pointed the finger of blame in the main to
and Mawiana Ismail Shahid (d. 1831); see Malik (1980:the converts, namely those who used to be Hindus
255). and converted to Islam later on. For him, these con-

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 Berichte und Kommentare 623

verts brought Abd al-Wahhaty4 onethem

with of the most radical their
Islamists, Hi
injected them who into
launched a similar revivalist
the movement
Muslimin the s
1968: 127). These Hindu
Arabian Peninsilila, historically known aspractices
the Wah-
by Shah Waliyhabist Movement.5
Allah Dehlavi as
orated by HafeezThe repudiation
Malikof un-Islamic aspects
who of Islam stat
dian led Shah Waliy bida'a
environment Allah Dehlavi and hisbecame
followers to a
Hindu folkwaysembark on and
a process of Islamisition
mores of the Muslim which
the converts, and
society in thebecause of
Indian subcontinent. Towards them
this end,
the Muslim Indie society"
he urged his co-religionists to adhere to the cultural (1980
In fact, to values of the
Shah Muslim world, which
Waliy were accepted
Allah Dehla
lowers, the essence
and exemplified by theof theas his
Prophet Mohammed Islami
na plus shari'asunna (Malik
minus 1980: 257). As a matter of a fact, be-
bida'a (Ma
term sunna ing of Arab origin, Shahmeans
literally Waliy Allah Dehlavi called
"trodd
to refer to the uponnormative
his community to keep aloof from the cultural
conduct
hammed. Shari'a mainstream of the Indian subcontinent and to not
literally means
lowed, and it neglect
is the used
customs and mores to of therefer
early Arabs to
based on Allah's commandments; whereas bida'a because they were the immediate followers of the
literally means "impious innovations," namely acts Prophet Mohammed (Malik 1980: 257). Moreover,
that contravene the Prophetic model (Malik 1980: for him, it was necessary that Muslims should cease
41 f.). to regard themselves as part of the general Indian
It is worthwhile to mention the fact that one society, and should never forget that they were an
of Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi 's followers, Sayyid integral part of the larger Muslim world (Karandi-
Ahmed Shahid (1786-1831), went a step further kar in 1968: 127). In this respect, R. Upadhyay (2003)
extending the term bida'a to include those innova- quotes the Indian historian, Istiaq Hussain Qureshi,
tions which had developed by association with the as saying that Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi:
Shiites as well as all non-Muslims that he referred
did not want the Muslims to become part of the gener-
to as "Mushrikiyn." Hafeez Malik quotes Shahid's
al milieu of the sub-continent. He wanted them to keep
message to the Muslim community asking them toalive their relation with the rest of the Muslim world so
"follow the example of Muhammad of Arabia and that the spring of their inspiration and ideals might ever
relinquish all the customs of India, Iran, and Rome" remain located in Islam and tradition of world commu-
(1980: 261). For the sake of illustration, it is usefulnity developed by it.
to mention Shahid's strong opposition to the shi'a's
religious rites among his community on Muharram, Thus, as part of his efforts to reform the Mus-
commemorating the martyrdom of Imam al-Husain lim community in India, Shah Waliy Allah Dehlavi
Ibn 'Ali, Prophet Mohammed's grandson via his left no stone unturned. In fact, he dealt with even
daughter Fatima, in the Kerbala tragedy.3 In this re-the smallest details of Muslims day-to-day life. Ac-
spect, Shahid wondered: "In what place God or thecording to Hafeez Malik, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi
Prophet stated that after Imam Husain was martyredcastigated his community for their marriage and fu-
a mourning procession or ta'ziyah should be takenneral customs. For instance, he deplored the prohi-
out annually?" (quoted in Malik 1980: 259). These bition by his co-religionists of a second marriage
rituals, according to a contemporary eyewitness infor widows, a practice so common amongst the Hin-
India, always ended in bloody incidence (Malikdu community (Malik 1980: 257). Commenting on
1980: 259). this practice, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi stated that it
Parenthetically, this stance of Shah Walyi Allah
Dehlavi and his disciples vis-à-vis non-Muslims and 4 Mohammed Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792) was a funda-
non-Sunnis reflects the rigidly sectarian character of mentalist Arab scholar, who pursued a radical approach in
viewing the Islamic religion. In his view, true Islam is strict-
the approach of their revivalist movement. As a mat-
ly confined to the Holy Quran and sunna of the Prophet Mo-
ter of fact, many historians agree on the fact that the hammed and all the accretions brought by later scholars, such
leader of this movement, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi, as fiqh, should be rejected. In this respect, he launched a cam-
was in line with his contemporary Mohammed Ibn paign against the ottoman sultans who were not in line with
his thoughts and accused them as apostates and worthy of
3 During these religious rites, shiite Muslims would walk in death (Armstrong 2001: 1 14).
processions as mourning rituals in honour of Imam Husain 5 ¡See Upadhyay (¿UU3); Armstrong dennes wannaoism as
who was martyred in Kerbala, Iraq, in a.D. 680. In these pro- a form of Islam that is puritan and based on a strictly literal
cessions, people, very emotionally involved, would wail, cry interpretation of scripture and early Islamic tradition (Arm-
aloud, weep and beat their breasts (Armstrong 2001 : 102). strong 2001 : 1 15).

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 624 Berichte und Kommentare

was not "a Hindu-Muslim relationamong

tradition in this sub-continent, which
the Ara
the jahiliyah undermined
[pre-Islamic] period
the self-pride and dignity of integrated
vent of the Indian society" (2004).
Prophet Muhammad
1980: 257). In another sphere, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi at-
With regardtributedto marriage,
the disintegration of the Mughal Empire in Sh
Dehlavi put into question
the subcontinent the
to corruption and division amongst pract
orbitant dowerthe Muslim
which military and political
he leadersregarded
as well as
novation in Islam. Hafeez
intellectuals due to sectarian Malik
and linguistic diver-
him as saying: gences. According to him, this situation culminat-
ed in a never-ending political infighting whereby
One of the reprehensible habits of our people is that in the each faction defended its own interests at the ex-
marriage contract an excessive dower is fixed. The Proph-
et Muhammad, on account of whom we are honoured in pense of the common interests of the whole Mus-
religion and in this world, fixed for his spouses a dower, lim community.6 Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi argued
the value of which amounted to 500 dirhams. that in this status quo , Islam would be completely
wiped out from the subcontinent. In order to avoid
On the other hand, excessive and unnecessarythis unwished-for consequence, he urged the ruling
Muslim spending on occasions of happiness waselite to fulfil their duties and obligations towards
also subject to Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi 's criti- the Muslim community and pleaded with them to
cism. In his opinion, there are only two ceremonies see beyond their own interests and divergences and
in Islamic tradition, namely Waliyma and ! Aqiqahcome together to help regain Muslim political power
(on the occasions of marriage and birth, respec- (Karandikar 1968: 127).
tively). He urged Muslims to observe only these two Again in this respect, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi
ceremonies and to get rid of other unnecessary ones thinks that the other reason for the decadence of the
(Malik 1980: 257). Mughal Empire in India was the unquestioned sub-
Furthermore, Muslim funeral ceremonies weremission, or, to use Karandikar's phraseology, "blind
also targeted by Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi's crit- obedience" to the Mughal Emperor (1968: 127).
icism. He strongly deplored the unnecessary cer- Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi was of the opinion that
emonies of Saywam (third day), Chelum (fortiethit was necessary to have a unified leadership for all
day), Shash Mahiy (six monthly), and Salaria (an-Muslims throughout the world that he referred to as
nual) days of mourning. For him, none of these cer- the "caliphate" (Karandikar 1968: 127).7 The aim of
emonies had existed among ancient Arabs, and to this institution is twofold: on the one hand, it could
follow the Prophet Mohammed's normative con- serve as a permanent spiritual and temporal guide,
duct, the funeral ceremony should not last more in the person of the "caliph," for all Muslim com-
than three days, during which messages of condo-munities throughout the world; on the other hand,
lence should be presented to the family of the de-
ceased, and that the latter should be treated to only 6 See Malik (1980: 125). According to Masselos, there were
three dinners (Malik 1980: 257 f.). major doctrinal differences among the Muslim community
It is worth mentioning the fact that by urging the in the Indian subcontinent. The majority were Sunnis and
the rest were Shiites, and there was considerable hostility
Muslim community to keep distance from the main-
between the two. The former, who had always considered
stream cultural milieu in India, Shah Walyi Allah themselves as orthodox, had always looked upon the latter
Dehlavi incurred, later on, a wave of opprobrium as unorthodox or heterodox. Under these two major divi-
and condemnation from many prominent leaders of sions, there were other subdivisions, or sects, that did not
the Indian nationalist movement. He was accused have much in common (1985: 121).
7 The "caliphate," or "khilafat," is a very important institution
of having sowed the seeds of disunity among the in the Islamic political system. It was initiated with the elec-
inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent which made
tion of Abu Bakr Seddik, who succeeded the Prophet Mo-
it difficult for their struggle for freedom from colo- hamed shortly after his death in a.d. 632. Abu Bakr Seddik
nial rule. As confirmed by Upadhyay, who said that was the first of the four caliphs historically referred to as
the Khulafa-i-Rashidin, viz. Omar Ibn Khattab, Othman Ibn
Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi's "emphasis on Arabiza-
Affan, and Ali Ibn Abi Taleb. The caliph would represent a
tion of Indian Islam did not allow the emotional in-
spiritual and temporal symbol for all Muslims of the world.
tegration of Indian Muslims with the rest of the pop- By no means an autocrat, the caliph has to consult with other
ulation of this country." He added: "Regressively Muslims in matters related to the running of office, and all his
affecting the Muslim psyche, his ideology debarred actions and policies were to be strictly in compliance with the
norms set up by the Holy Quran and the Prophet's traditions.
it from forward-looking vision" (2003). In another
This institutions did not outlive the Khulafa-i-Rashidin' s era,
article, Upadhyay declared that "the religio-political as the latter's successors modified it in a way that made it
ideology of Wali Ullah made a permanent crack in look more like a monarchy (Wasti 1993: 288).

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 Berichte und Kommentare 625

it could serve as
It is crystal
a cflear
restraint
from what has been mentioned
that w
rulers under some form of control. so far that Shalj Walyi Allah Dehlavi and his disci-
In addition to all that, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlaviples, by opposihg the integration of Islamic culture
wanted to target each source of Muslim weakness.in the Indian cultural mainstream and urging the
In his first pamphlet entitled "Hujjatulla-al-Baliga," Muslim community to keep aloof from non-Mus-
which he addressed to the frail Mughal emperor and lims, and even non-Sunnis, adopted a traditional as
his staff, he endeavoured to highlight the main un- well as rigidly doctrinal approach in reforming the
derlying causes behind the current chaotic situa- Muslim community in India. Hence, in doing so,
tion in the empire. In his opinion, the decline of the they, on the one hand, failed to see the benefits of
country was due to two major reasons. Karandikar Western education, an opportunity that Hindus were
(1968: 126) quotes him as saying that the first rea-wise enough not to miss. The result of which was to
son was: be felt by the second half of the nineteenth century,
when Muslims found themselves trailing far behind
. . . pressure on the public treasury which is Hindu
their due to the fact
fellow-countrymen.
that the people have developed a habit of On
obtaining
the other money
hand, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi 's
from the Exchequer without performing any correspond-
movement failed in his attempt to unite the whole
ing duty. They either come out with the excuse that they
Muslims of the subcontinent, notably those two ma-
are soldiers or "ulama" and have therefore a claim on the
jor doctrinal factions, Sunnis and Shiites. Indeed, in
treasury; or they claim to belong to that group of men
whom the king himself presents rewards . . . These peoplespite of the fact that he managed to forge a strong
diminish the sources of other peoples' income and are a
bond of brotherhood between Sunni Muslims, he
burden on the country. opened up a enormous gulf between the latter and
their co-religionists, the Shiites (Powell 1993: 66).
With regard to the second reason, Karandikar Powell summarises this drawback in Shah Walyi Al-
(1968: 126) continues quoting Shah Walyi Allahlah Dehlavi's movement by saying that: "If bonds
Dehlavi as saying that it was: between Sunnis were . . . considerably strengthened,
Shah Wali Allah's writings tended, however, to the
. . . heavy taxation on the peasants, merchants and workers exacerbation of sunni-shiite theological difficulties"
and cruel dealings with these groups. The result is that all
(1993: 66).
those who are loyal to the state and obey its orders are go-
Be that as it may, for many historians it is tak-
ing on the way to destruction. The refractory people and
en for granted that Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi's pio-
the evaders are becoming more refractory and they do not
pay the taxes to the state.
neering endeavour to reform and revive the Muslim
community in South Asia had a significant impact
In a word, as can be inferred from the para- on later Muslim leaders. Indeed, he became a source
graphs above, Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi, with the of inspiration to later Muslim reformists, even to
help of his followers, was the first Indian Muslim to those whose ideas and thoughts were, at times, at
set alarm bells ringing for Islam in South Asia. Heloggerheads with his.
tried to reach the majority of his co-religionists in
the region, regardless of their status in society, from
the ashraf (namely aristocrats), intellectual elite,References Cited
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Malik, Hafeez
thermore, many historians admit the fact that what 1980 Sir Sayyid Ahmed Khan and Muslim Modernization
Shah Walyi Allah Dehlavi abhorred most were those in India and Pakistan. New York: Columbia University
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Hindu. lishers.

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 626 Berichte und Kommentare

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1993 The Khilafat Movement in the Indo-Pakistan Subconti-
writing very much in sync with debates in modern
nent. In: S. R. Wasti, Muslim Struggle for Freedom in
literature: these will concern thematic aspects in his
British India; pp. 288-310. Delhi: Renaissance Publish-
ing House. writing (nostalgia, erotic, freedom, and civilization)
as well as strictly literary culture study domains of
analysis (reflexivity, rewriting of experience, hy-
bridity, transtextuality, reference).
It will, hopefully, become clear that Malinowski's
travels to the Trobriand Islands in 1914 have shaped
the becoming ( devenir ) in the humanities and mir-
ror the permanence of the very issues which concern
and haunt modern comparative literature.
"Fifty Islands That I Have Never Seen It is not clear how to accomplish this agenda,
and Never Set Foot on" considering that Malinowski has been on a lonely
endeavor appreciated only by a handful of anthro-
On the Importance pologists. While his work has been a rite of passage
of Bronisław Malinowski in academia in that it trespassed human boundar-
for Comparative Literature ies of what is possible in research, Malinowski is
a read for cross-disciplinary specialists in the field
Maja Nazaruk who combine fieldwork, analysis of identity, we-
they cleavages, and subliminal interpretations of the
subconscious.
Introduction Malinowski offers a corpus which is difficult for
reading: his diary is chopped with short indicative
A thinker who infiltrated the discourse of (post-)
statements, memories, and flashbacks, tension from
modern literature, history, psychoanalysis, with-
his sensual and sexual position, arrogant culture-
out failing to notice his numerous contributions to
specific irritation at alterity1. The writing is not co-
anthropological studies and culturologie , Bronis-
hesive and it is hardly "prose-writing," although it
ław Malinowski - in the nostalgic drama in his meets
in- the criteria of intimate writing with instinc-
sect-ridden tent in the heart of "savage" villages
tual drives and self-projections. The diary is a trav-
and primitive societies - has been a vociferously
elogue and it would probably earn more currency
biting critic, "Oriental Father Figure" and cross-
in current blog-writing cultures than at the time of
disciplinary mover and shaker. The author of this
article wishes to advance common understanding
of Bronisław Malinowski in the context of literary1 The argument on the myth has been accomplished by Ivan
studies. Strenski (1987). He argued that the roots of Malinowski's
myth-making can be traced to German idealism and the no-
Namely, it is my aim to demonstrate why Ma-
tion of Lebensphilosophie , which he preferred in comparison
linowski's writings merit to be co-opted into the lit-to the English culture with its "lack of enthusiasm, idealism,
erary corpus, an argument which strengthens simi- purpose" (1987). Germans had "purpose, possibly lousy ...
lar echoes, constructed by Clifford Geertz (1988),but there is an élan, there is a sense of mission" (Malinowski
Robert Thornton (1985), Andrzej Zawadzki (2001),2002: 208). Strenski (1987) mentions in particular the con-
cept of lili 'u (myth-making leitmotif), which Malinowski had
Grażyna Kubica-Heller (2002), Harry C. Payneco-opted as a vehicle for his humanist and romantic project.
(1981), and others. We have unquestionably seenThe liii' u were important stories told in the circle of Trobri-
that his writing contains fragmentary literary as-
and society.

Anthropos 109.2014

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