Logan Sparks | University of New Mexico (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Logan Sparks

Building on an awareness of the historical role of textile in a gendered economy, what uniquely e... more Building on an awareness of the historical role of textile in a gendered economy, what uniquely emerges here is both a subject matter that has not yet been considered and wedding of a wide historical context with an ethnographic experiment. The historical, aesthetic, and economic relationship of women to fabric production and usage is examined through the religious practices of Turkish women who leave scarves as offerings at the tombs of Muslim holy men and women (evliya). The approach is anthropological, taking into account multiple arenas such as economics and tradition (both dominant and subaltern). It draws particularly on the Ottoman and Turkish ritual habitus (with a focus on fabric and transmission) and the role of self-metonymy in votive offerings. The ethnography makes use of a hermeneutic capable of simultaneously taking into account the sensitivities of representation along with the epistemic tensions at work in the confluence of both concrete and intangible cultural influences. Besides exploration via the historical record and thick description, Irigaray’s approach to gendered dialogue is taken as a basis for working with the inevitable aporia encountered in the field, particularly when respondents and researchers must communicate across a gendered divide to discuss a gendered aspect of the material. This is not presented as an argument for a particular method or a solution to representation issues, as such. Rather, it’s the expression of a nonlinear process naturally growing from initial discoveries in the world of women’s art, labor and religiosity.

This text is for a general audience (not necessarily academic) interested in the theme of ethnogr... more This text is for a general audience (not necessarily academic) interested in the theme of ethnographic field work experiences in Turkey. It is a part of a book currently being negotiated with publishers and will be translated into Turkish, in its final version.

The mixing of Muslims and Christians at pilgrimage sites falls outside of the limits of knowledge... more The mixing of Muslims and Christians at pilgrimage sites falls outside of the limits of knowledge for many in the less traditional ('western') world. That Jews and Muslims pray in the same shrines in North Africa or that Christians and Muslims do the same in Istanbul, elicits a research-worthy surprise for its exposure of epistemic assumptions. For that reason, this work delves into an important value expressed by Islamic culture as a way of simultaneously understanding the macro and micro-levels at which shared sacred sites are maintained through physical spatial practice within a general sense of appropriate action via a principal and value known as adab, found particularly in the Islamic world. It explores the discourses that have influenced this long-term maintenance of balance, notwithstanding important exceptions, and the way in which it remains as a discursive building block to draw upon, even when such traditional values have had a break down in sacred space or in the wider social space. 1 Adab is defined as a deeply embedded cultural/religious value flexibly and situationally determining the best form of action based in an ontological refinement and found in the Islamic and Islamicate cutlural arena; it has been at times codified (particularly at moments of encounter with non-Muslims) and is based on a sense of both right being and right relationality. It is from this basic axiological and epistemic foundation that the following analysis proceeds. Parallel to the work of Bucar on Ta'aruf as ritual politeness in Iranian culture, I will also analyse adab as something beyond simply social convention (although also overlapping with it) but distinct from Ta'aruf, I emphasise its role as a management and negotiation of both intuition, and ritual/social norms. 2

The life of Elena Avila, a postmodern Chicana curandera from El Paso via Albuquerque, is examine... more The life of Elena Avila, a postmodern Chicana curandera from El Paso via Albuquerque, is examined through the angles of ethnographic fieldwork, discourse analysis and interview material to highlight her biography as a productive narrative, but one as of yet largely unnoticed in chicano studies and beyond. The intention is self-consciously descriptive in addition to analytical, critical and autoethnographic. Avila was pivotal in a revival of interest in traditional Mesoamerican medicine in the United States. As a mental health nurse and specialist in supporting victims of sexual abuse in mainstream healthcare, her transition into a traditional healer is noteworthy for what it can tell us about the ways in which the Mexican-American immigrant experience reinterprets traditional medical knowledge in relationship to mainstream biomedicine and Anglo, dominant cultural views of wellness. In the process, issues of hybridity, authenticity and the lived experiences of Avila’s relatives and students add significant texture and motivation to further a number of related discussions yet to be had.

Books by Logan Sparks

Pregnancy and childbirth is seen as a part of a medicalised ritual, with a safe birth and “health... more Pregnancy and childbirth is seen as a part of a medicalised ritual, with a safe birth and “healthy” baby , the desired outcome . (Davis-Floyd, 2003).
This paper argues that prenatal screening and the “othering” of the baby with the diagnosed condition represents an example of the formation and enactment of the disabled identity.
Disability advocates challenge this view, arguing that “disability” is part of human diversity and should be valued and protected as such.

This collection of articles is connected to the First International Istanbul Ritual Studies Sympo... more This collection of articles is connected to the First International Istanbul Ritual Studies Symposium, held at Süleyman Şah University in Istanbul, on May 27th and 28th of 2014. This symposium was a cooperative initiative of the SSU Department of Sociology in Istanbul and the research group ‘Ritual in Society’ of the Tilburg School of Humanities. The symposium and this book challenged the Tilburg-Istanbul network to enter this Ritual Studies platform and present work where cultural and social phenomena and practices are approached through the lens, the entrance point of ritual. This emphasis can be translated into an approach to ritual as an analytical concept that brings in certain theoretical and methodological dimensions. This text both discusses the place of ritual in cultural analysis and includes a critical discussion around this same approach. The book has, in this way, a very open character. Various disciplines explore cultural practices through the lens of ritual and ritual is itself, in turn, conceived of in an open way. All articles have a contemporary character and draw from a variety of contexts, from the Middle East to Latin America, Europe, Africa and New Zealand.

Presentations by Logan Sparks

 Modern Turks of the Republic of Turkiye are one of many Turkic groups found all over Eurasia, F... more  Modern Turks of the Republic of Turkiye are one of many Turkic groups found all over Eurasia, From China to the Balkans and many places in between.