The Dangerous Lives of Public Performers
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The Dangerous Lives of Public Performers Dancing, Sex, and Entertainment in the Islamic World Anthony Shay
ISBN 978-1-349-49268-8 DOI 10.1057/9781137432384 the dangerous lives of public performers Copyright Anthony Shay, 2014. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-43360-2 All rights reserved. First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe, and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978-1-137-43360-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shay, Anthony, 1936- The dangerous lives of public performers : dancing, sex, and entertainment in the Islamic world / Anthony Shay. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-137-43360-2 (hardback) 1. Entertainers Islamic countries History. 2. Performing arts Islamic countries History. I. Title. PN2960.I75S53 2014 791.0917 67 dc23 2014001941 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Amnet. First edition: July 2014 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 978-1-137-43238-4 (ebook)
This book is dedicated to my dear and wise friend and colleague: Jonathan M. Hall
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Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments ix xi Introduction: Life as a Public Entertainer 1 1 The Public Entertainer 21 2 The Contours of Masculinity and Public Entertainers in Ancient Greece 39 3 The Contours of Masculinity and the Public Entertainer in Rome, Hellenistic Greece, and Byzantium 65 4 Medieval Islam: The Caliphate in Damascus, Baghdad, Córdoba, Cairo, and Beyond 93 5 After the Caliphate: Early Modern Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Iran, Mughal India The Heyday of Islamic Gunpowder Empires 133 6 The Long Nineteenth Century: The Qajars, the Ottomans, Egypt, and Colonialism 171 7 The Twentieth and the Twenty-First Centuries: Modernity and Nationalism 209 Notes 237 Bibliography 243 Videos and Films 273 Index 275
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List of Illustrations 1.1 Indian Jugglers. This scene could occur throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and India. 34 4.1 Brillenschlange Snake charmers. Snake charmers are common throughout the region. 120 5.1 An assemblage of public entertainers in a festival setting. They are popular everywhere. 152 5.2 Octavien Çengi, Ottoman dancing girl. 155 5.3 Egyptian dancing girls. Ghawazi dancers were popular into the 1970s. 159 5.4 Jeune danseur Indian dancing boy. 162 6.1 Egyptian ball. Ghawazi dancers in the streets of Cairo described by many European travelers. 180 6.2 An Indian nautch dancer. 182 6.3 Ghawazi dancers of Cairo. 189 6.4 A dancing boy from Bukhara. 204 7.1 In Tashkent with Tamara Khanum. 229
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Acknowledgments I want to thank my colleagues at Pomona College, especially those in the Department of Theatre and Dance, where I have found an intellectual home: Betty Bernhard, Laurie Cameron, Art Horowitz, Meg Jolley, Victoria Koenig, Tom Leabhart, Sherry Linnell, Joyce Lu, Leonard Pronko, John Pennington, Jim Taylor, and the three individuals who make the department run smoothly Cathy Seeman, Mary Rosier, and Myrna Cogley. Jonathan Wright has guided me kindly and patiently through grant applications and given sage advice for my proposals. I thank Pomona College for my sabbatical time, a Wig travel grant, and David and Susan Hirsch, who provided funding through the Hirsch Grant that enabled me to go to Istanbul to the Topkapi, to the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, where Tim Stanley, chief curator of Middle Eastern art aided me in my research, and to the Bibliothèque Nationale. Also, for patiently preparing the illustrations, I thank Mary McMahon and Jason Smith of Information and Technical Services for their help. Jonathan Hall proved a true friend and sounding board for my wilder intellectual flights. My students are a constant joy and stimulus, and I am blessed and grateful to have them. Andrew Lear gave me generous guidance to navigate through the ancient Greek and Roman sources and reading drafts of those chapters. Philip Nix read several drafts and gave important insights. As always, my spouse, Jamal (Khosrow Jamali), is everything in life one could want in a helpmeet love, patience, intellectual stimulus, delicious meals, and the kindest heart in the world.