La période pré moderne en Inde voit se développer la bhakti comme nouvelle religiosité distincte et dominer de façon quasi-totale la scène religieuse en Inde. Bien que nous n’avons pas atteint une masse critique des études qui établissent une incidence de la mystique musulmane sur la poésie dévotionnelle de Kabīr, ce papier de recherche aura pour objectif de démontrer l’existence d’un lien entre la bhakti et le soufisme indo-persan implanté depuis le sultanat de Delhi jusqu’à la fin de la période moghole en se concentrant sur une question : Dans quelle mesure les pratiques ascétiques du poète Kabīr se sont développées sous l'influence de l’idéologie et la mystique soufie? Il examine comment une figure de bhakti comme Kabīr a embrassé la conception soufie de la spiritualité dans un rapport d’emprunt et d’association intime sans modifier la généalogie hindoue de cette sensibilité dévotionnelle. Les mouvements bhakti et soufi du sous-continent n'ont pas seulement montré la quête d'un individu ou d'un groupe d'individus pour atteindre la connaissance, la grâce, ou l'unicité avec l'Être suprême, ils ont insufflé à la masse des dévots hindous et musulmans une voie unique afin de rejoindre la Réalité ultime en transcendant le phénomène des identités religieuses peu ou pas définies à cette époque d’hybridité religieuse et qui furent amplement forgées par l’idée du salut par la voie mystique indépendamment du concept de la religion tel que comprise par l’érudition moderne. / The pre-modern period in India sees the development of bhakti as a new and distinct religiosity and almost completely dominates the religious scene in India. Although we have not reached a critical mass of studies that establish an impact of Muslim mysticism on Kabīr's devotional poetry, this research paper will aim to demonstrate the existence of a link between bhakti and Indo-Persian Sufism implanted from the Delhi Sultanate to the end of the Mughal period by focusing on one question: To what extent did the ascetic practices of the poet Kabīr develop under the influence of Sufi ideology and mysticism? It examines how a bhakti figure like Kabīr embraced the Sufi conception of spirituality in a relationship of borrowing and intimate association without altering the Hindu genealogy of this devotional sensibility. The bhakti and Sufi movements of the subcontinent did not merely demonstrate the quest of an individual or group of individuals to attain knowledge, grace, or oneness with the Supreme Being, they instilled in the mass of Hindu and Muslim devotees a unique path to reach the Ultimate Reality by transcending the phenomenon of religious identities that were little or not defined in that era of religious hybridity and that were amply forged by the idea of salvation through the mystical path independently of the concept of religion as understood by modern scholarship.

The so called Bhakti movement spread, during the Late Medieval period, like wildfire across the South Asian subcontinent and acted like a catalyst for the development of nirguṇī-traditions. These newly emerging nirguṇī-traditions rallyd men and women alike, preaching for the abolation of the varṇa-system, for Muslim-Hindu unity, devotion to the one omipresent godhead, nirguṇa. Among these traditions, a man named Kabīr came and claimed the leading position, a position that history still, to this day, gives credit as being one of the most, if not the most, important figure amongst the of the North Indian bhakti preachers. Kabīr’s teachings came to be, after his passing, the foundation for the establishmentof the Kabīr Panth (Path of Kabīr) a by now well known tradition. However, at an early stage of formation, the Kabīr Panth began to separate into many branches, which all started to produce their own literature regarding several contrasting retellings of Kabīr’s life, his poems, and the installation of rituals and praxis. As a consequence of the various legends along with myths created, following the schism between the main branches, Kabīr’s life and legacy came to be displayed and understood rather differently. This study does not only demonstrate how Kabīr is perceived within the various branches, most prominent that of the Kabīr Chaurā and Dharmadasī branch, and what attributes, human and divine, are given him. Throughout the study it is also shown how these perceptions of Kabīr, may be understood as forms of, to various degrees, fostering of Sanskritization in order to gain upward momentum within the Indian socio-religious ladder of hierarchy, more commonly known as the varṇa-system.

Consacré à un instrument de musique et à deux de ses maîtres, ce travail de recherche s’inscrit dans une approche historique, organologique et analytique. Le qānūn, cordophone traditionnel à cordes pincées, est le socle de l’ensemble instrumental dénommé takht qui est inhérent à la tradition musicale artistique du Mashriq à l’époque de la Nahḍa (Renaissance arabe 1898-1939). Soumis à cette époque, à des mutations organologiques de même, qu’à des transformations dans la grammaire musicale, en rapport avec les processus acculturatifs et modernistes de l’entre-deux-guerres, le style de l’improvisation instrumentale ou taqsīm au qānūn connaît une évolution significative. Celle-ci est étudiée dans cette thèse en tenant compte de l’organologie historique et systématique de l’instrument, du mode de jeu instrumental, de l’histoire de cette tradition musicale et en s’appuyant sur l’analyse de la transcription d’exemples enregistrés sur disques 78 tours de deux grands maîtres de cet instrument : Muḥammad al-‘Aqqād (1849-1930) et Muḥammad ‘Abduh Ṣāliḥ (1912-1970). / This research, which uses historical, organological and analytical approaches, is solely concentrated on a musical instrument and two of its masters. The qānūn is a traditional chordophone where strings are plucked; it is the base of the instrumental ensemble called takht which is inherent to the musical artistic tradition of the Mashriq during the Nahḍa period (Arabic Renaissance 1898-1939). Subjected to many organological changes during this period, and subjected to many transformations in the musical grammar with respect to acculturation and modernism between the two wars, the improvisational instrumental style, known as qānūn taqsīm saw a significant evolution. The latter is studied in this thesis, bearing in mind the historical and systematic organology of the instrument, the performance mode, the history of this musical tradition, as well as relying upon the analysis of transcriptions of recorded examples of 78 RPM of the two great masters of the instrument: Muḥammad al- ‘Aqqād (1849-1930) and Muḥammad ‘Abduh Ṣāliḥ (1912-1970).

Kabīr stands as one of the most, if not the most, influential nirguṇbhakti poet of the so-called Sant movement in northern India during the 15th century. Even though his fame is far and widely spread, there is no extensive historical evidence regarding his own life. The understanding one might have surrounding Kabīr is mostly inspired by his poems, or following the information which is available through the rich traditions regarding Kabīr, mostly authored by his followers in the Kabīr Panth. His critical view on high caste society, and rough rhetoric regarding the institutionalized religious traditions of his era, made him a victim of hate and violence during his lifetime. After his death, this rough rhetoric and critical view, ignited a full on dispute between Hindus and Muslims on the subject of which group he belonged to. The teachings of Kabīr has not only sparked an interest in the field of academia but also in movies, literature and theater alike. The latter is the main subject of interest for this paper. The renowned Indian writer Bhisham Sahni has during his life been recognized as one of the most influential writers in the so-called Nayī Kahānī movement, which sprung from a new found vision of the future after Indian independence 1947. Sahnis is mostly famous for his novels and short stories, with such titles as Tamas and Amṛtsar ā gayā hai. But in this paper we shall instead take a closer look into his play Kabirā khaḍā bazār meṃ and how Kabīr is portrayed and understood by Sahni, as well as, if and how Sahni’s Kabīr can be understood within a comparative analysis with how he is portrayed in the introduction to Rabindranath Tagore’s One hundred poems of Kabir by Evelyn Underhill and in Linda Hess’s The Bījak of Kabīr.

La musique arabo-andalouse a fait l’objet d’une littérature abondante dès la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle : dans un premier temps, à travers un regard orientaliste nourri par un esprit de curiosité en quête d’exotisme, puis à travers des essais de transcription et des travaux musicologiques axés sur l’étude et la classification des corpus. Fruit d’une longue gestation commune, les répertoires arabo-andalous sont soumis à des fluctuations d’origine aussi bien exogène qu’endogène. Malheureusement, l’approche comparative des variantes maghrébines et l’analyse approfondie des échelles musicales restent peu explorées. Cette thèse propose une étude analytique et comparative de trois ţubūˁ maghrébins à échelles homologues : l’Asbaˁayn tunisien, le Zidāne algérien et le Hijāz al-Kabīr marocain. L’identification des comportements mélodiques inhérents aux trois corpus est réalisée par la combinaison de plusieurs démarches analytiques. Le traitement statistique des mélodies (occurrences et durées des hauteurs, finales internes, degrés fondamentaux…) sera suivi par une analyse paradigmatique basée sur le repérage des schémas conclusifs. Une étude empirique, s’appuyant sur l’interprétation de mesures fréquentielles, permettra la comparaison des rapports d’intervalles et des amplitudes de fluctuation des différentes hauteurs de notes. Notre première partie sera fondée sur une approche diachronique démontrant d’un côté le caractère dynamique des répertoires étudiés et justifiant d’autre part certaines divergences et convergences déduites des différentes analyses. / The Arab-Andalusian music has been the object of an abundant literature from the second half of the 19th century: at first, through an Orientalist perspective fed by a spirit of curiosity in search of exoticism, then through transcription attempts and musicological research focused on the study and the classification of the corpuses. Fruit of a long common gestation, the Arab-Andalusian repertoires are influenced by exogenous and endogenous fluctuations. Unfortunately, the comparative approach of the variants from the Maghreb and the thorough analysis of musical scales remain little explored. This thesis proposes an analytical and comparative study of three North African ţubū, with equivalent scales: Tunisian Aşbaˁayn, Algerian Zīdāne and the Moroccan Hijāz al-Kabīr. The identification of melodic behaviors inherent to the three corpuses is reached by the combination of several analytical approaches. The statistical processing of melodies (occurrences, notes duration, internal finales, and fundamental degrees) will be followed by a paradigmatic analysis based on conclusive patterns. An empirical study, based on the interpretation of frequency measurements, will allow us to compare intervals ratios and the variation margin of note pitches. The first part deals with a diachronic approach demonstrating, on the one hand, the dynamic character of the studied directories and on the other side, justifying certain differences and convergences deduced from the various analysis.