Talal Asad (1933 - Present)

## *Quotes:*

*“For me anthropology is a continuous exploration of received ideas about the way given modes of life hang together. More precisely: what is included or excluded in the concepts that help to organize our collective lives? how? why? with what probable consequences for behavior and experience? such an inquiry requires that one be ready to break out of the coercive constraints of sociological truth—the axiom that the social is the ground of being.”* (Asad, Talal. "Responses." *Powers of the Secular Modern Talal Asad and His Interlocutors*. Comp. David Scott. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2006. 207. Print.)

*“The process of cultural translation is enmeshed in conditions of power—professional, national, international. and among these conditions is the authority of ethnographers to uncover the implicit meanings of subordinate societies. Given that this is so, the interesting question for enquiry is not whether, and if so to what extent, anthropologists should be relativists or rationalists, critical or charitable, toward other cultures, but how power enters into the process of ‘cultural translation,’ seen both as a discursive and as a non-discursive practice.”*  (Asad, Talal. "The Concept of Cultural Translation." *Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography*. Ed. James Clifford and George Marcus. Berkeley: U of California, 1986. 163. Print.)

## Biography and History

Raised in Pakistan but born in Saudi Arabia, Talal Asad was educated in anthropology after an initial stint in architecture proved to hold little appeal and he moved on to the University of Edinburgh where he earned his MA. He received his PhD from Oxford in 1968, and spent a number of years at the University of Khartoum teaching. While at Oxford he was introduced to E. E. Evans-Pritchard who would be an important influence on his choice to do fieldwork study in Sudan. The resulting book *The Kababish Arabs: Power, Authority and Consent in a Nomadic Tribe* was published in 1970. He also spent time as a lecturer at Hull where he gave many presentations on the Middle East, one of the focus points of his studies and research.

Currently, Asad is an Anthropology professor at CUNY’s Graduate Centre.

## Work

Talal Asad’s work, mainly focuses on post-colonialism, religion, in particular Islam, and secularism. He has predominantly written on religious matters and the influence of religion on the development of social structures based on religious principles. He discusses in his work, the representation of the ‘'Non-Western’’ cultures by the West, and questions the use of Western standards as a measure of comparison to other cultures within the discipline of Anthropology. To cite his more influential work, *Anthropology and the Colonial Encounter* (1973), among others, focuses on what is now referred to as the colonialism of Anthropology, and serves as an attempt to illustrate the influence of British colonialism on the shaping of the discipline. Moreover, part of Asad’s work focused mainly on Christianity and Islam, and the author is also known for his development on the anthropology of Islam, notably though his book entitled The Idea of an *Anthropology of Islam* (1986), a response to the increasing numbers of anthropological  studies focused on the Islamic culture. His book, *Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam* (1993), is an in depth exploration of the nature of religion as a social construction and as a universal concept, which also served as an introduction to one of the author’s most recent work on the concept of secularization, *Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, and Modernity* (2003).

## Influences

Coming from a diverse set of influences, Tala Asad established his theoretical foundation not only on British and postcolonial anthropological tradition but also within philosophy, theology, and comparative study. From the permeating influence of such authors as E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Edward Said and Michel Foucault, Asad also gives credit to the logical positivist philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the socioeconomic analyses of Karl Marx, and the psychological anthropology of Abram Kardiner, Ralph Linton, and Alfred Irving Hallowell.

As a student of Oxford University, Asad studied directly under Evans-Pritchard. Asad appreciated Evans-Pritchard’s focus on both the Arab and African world and, as stated above, aimed to follow in his path by working in Sudan. However, it was not until Said’s seminal work *Orientalism*, published eight years after Asad’s thesis on the Kababish,that helped solidify his post-colonial and East/West approach to anthropology. Foucault’s influence on Asad is partially mediated through Said’s writings, as *Orientalism* expands on his knowledge/power relationship. Additionally, Said’s book was partially responsible for introducing Foucault into the American discourse. Despite attending an English school, he was exposed to the more American ideas, including symbolic anthropology in the tradition of Clifford Geertz. While Asad leans towards favouring postructuralist theory in favour of symbolic anthropology, he remains indebted to Geertz for shaping his perspective by way of dissent.

## Analysis

Through Asad’s work we can see that he is concerned with the ethnographic tools used by anthropologists when trying to understand cultural phenomenon. Included in these tools are the ways in which the ethnographer conceptualizes the world around them both through systems of knowledge and power. These systems of knowledge and power are a product of a colonial past and a Western hegemony. Because of this, much of Assad’s work focuses on these power relations.

Asad’s analysis of secularization has been one of his most important contributions to the discipline. In his work, *Formations of the Secular*, Asad attempts to analyze what the anthropology of secularization might look like. He explores the Western idea of a modern nation-state and analyzes the way secularism is viewed within the West as being a teleological progression that assumes secularization as the end goal for all other nations. The Western conception that secularization is the ideal form of governing is a direct reflection of the colonial power structures still present today. Because of this, Asad suggests that rather than universalizing secularization, we need to analyze Islamic politico-religious movements on their own terms while also trying to understand the motivation for the people involved.

Asad is concerned with Anthropological methodology and the ways in which it creates discourse and analyzes certain phenomenon. In his work, *The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam*, Asad highlights the anthropological theories that have been previously used by anthropologists such as Clifford Geertz and Ernest Gellner when writing about Islam, and describes the problems that arise through their theoretical analyses. From this, he suggests analyzing Islam as a discursive tradition; a tradition with historically evolving discourses that are influenced by the changing material realities. He therefore suggests that analyzing Islam shouldn’t be de-historicized nor should it fail to take into account the continuously changing institutional relations that are a part of it. Asad essentially suggests we re-evaluate how Islam is generalized within Anthropology and that we approach such generalizations in a different way; a way that is conscious of the link between power and production of knowledge.

## Critique

Throughout the time during which Asad has been engaging in anthropology and the social sciences he has operated in superposition to such ideologies and schools of thought as: postmodernism, structuralism, post-structuralism, cultural studies, critical theory, functionalist anthropology, symbolic anthropology, religious studies, historiography, postcolonialism, political economy, Marxism, and sociology. Specifically, Asad has worked in concert with thinkers like Edward Said, whose 1978 book *Orientalism* brought postcolonial discourse to widespread attention, as well as James Clifford and George Marcus whose 1986 book *Writing Culture*, characterized new theoretical directions in reflexivity and self-consciousness within the discipline of anthropology.

As a result of these academic and intellectual contexts, Asad has published his work into a largely positive atmosphere ample with individuals sympathetic to his perspective. However, he is not lacking in detractors. From specific critiques regarding his tendency towards a rigid ‘western-non-western’ binary, his aversion towards ethnography and participant observation, his tendency towards overly specific analysis which inhibits him from addressing whole issues, and his lack of consideration of the reality of conflated cultural experience, Asad has also operated in an environment which has at times been critical of his work.

## Sources:

Anjum, Ovamir. *Islam as a Discursive Tradition: Talal Asad and His Interlocutors.* Web. 04 Dec. 2015.

Asad, Talal. "Responses." *Powers of the Secular Modern Talal Asad and His Interlocutors*. Comp. David Scott. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2006. 206-243. Print.

Asad, Talal. *Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity*. 2003. Stanford University Press. Web.

Bangstad, Sindre. "Contesting Secularism/s: Secularism and Islam in the Work of Talal Asad." *Anthropological Theory* Vol 9.2 (2009): 188-208. Print.

Eilts, John. “Talal Asad.” *Stanford Presidential Lectures in the Humanities and Arts*. Stanford University Libraries, 2006. Web. 2 Dec 2015.

Das, Veena. "Secularism and The Argument From Nature." *Powers of the Secular Modern Talal Asad and His Interlocutors.* Comp. David Scott. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2006. 93-113. Print.

Mahmood, Saba. "Talal Asad: Modern Power and the Reconfiguration of Religious Traditions." 1996. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.

Scott, David, and Charles Hirschkind. *Powers of the Secular Modern: Talal Asad and His Interlocutors.* Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 2006. Web.

Scott, David. "Appendix: The Trouble of Thinking: An Interview with Talal Asad." *Powers of the Secular Modern Talal Asad and His Interlocutors*. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2006. 243-305. Print.

Scott, David. "Introduction: The Anthropological Skepticism." *Powers of the Secular Modern Talal Asad and His Interlocutors*. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2006. 1-12. Print.

"Talal Asad - The Idea of An Anthropology of Islam." Strong Reading. 12 Jan. 2012. Web.

“Talal Asad.” *Department of Religious Studies: The University of Alabama*. Department of Religious Studies, 2012. Web. 2 Dec 2015.

“Talal Asad.” *The Graduate Center: City University of New York.* The Graduate Center, 2015. Web. 2 Dec 2015.