The Gender of Sainthood: Moroccan Hagiography at the End of the XIXth Century

Abstract

francaisHow was gender deployed in narrating saints’ lives? What does this tell us about the historicity of gender on the one hand, the idiosyncrasies of sainthood on the other? Based on the analysis of selected entries devoted to women in the Kitāb salwat al-anfāsby Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar Al-Kattānī (d. 1927), the article asks how gender shapes saintly religious authority and how, in turn, saintly religious authority (re-)configures gender. To highlight the complexity of gender in sainthood, the article foregrounds differences within two groups of women saints that are usually discussed in opposition to each other: women saintly fools (majdhūbāt) and women embodying more socially conforming expressions of outstanding piousness. It will be argued that generalizing notions of patriarchy are inadequate for capturing the complexities of gender in hagiography francaisCet article sʼinteresse a la revue Lamalif, qui represente l’une des magazines ayant joue un role decisif dans la structuration, aussi problematique soit-elle, du champ politique socioeconomique et culturel au Maroc. Elle a permis aux ecrivains et aux intellectuels de 'dialoguer' par textes interposes. Lʼhistoire du Maroc doit beaucoup a cette revue qui a reflete a plusieurs niveaux les changements quʼavait connue le pays durant deux decennies (1965-1985) pleins de divers rebondissements.