In the Path of the Prophet: Medieval and Early Modern Narratives of the Life of Zarathustra in Islamic Iran and Western India is a historical study of the discursive practices by which Zoroastrians struggled to define their communal identity through constructions of the central figure of their religion. I argue that Zoroastrians adopted cosmopolitan religious vocabularies from the Islamicate and Sanskritic literary traditions for a world in which they were no longer a dominant political force. Contrary to much scholarship, which characterizes medieval Zoroastrian thought as stagnant, I contend that literary production in this period reveals extraordinary intellectual engagement among Zoroastrians endeavoring to make meaning of their ancient religious traditions in a rapidly changing world. The essays of my dissertation focus on four moments in Zoroastrian intellectual history. I begin with an analysis of the thirteenth century Persian Zarātushtnāma (The Book of Zarathustra), examining interactions between Zoroastrian theology and prophetology and contemporary Islamic thought, focusing on the role that miracles played in medieval Zoroastrian conceptions of prophethood. In my next essay, I explore questions of identity, orthodoxy and heterodoxy by investigating a group of Zoroastrian mystics who migrated from Safavid Persia to Mughal India around the seventeenth century. Influenced by the Illuminationist school of Islamic philosophy, they left behind a body of texts which blur religious boundaries. In my third essay, I examine the earliest literary compositions in the Gujarati language about the life of Zarathustra, employing theoretical discussions of literary cosmopolitanism and vernacularization to trace how Zoroastrian stories were reimagined by Indian Zoroastrians (Parsis) to fit Indo-Persian and Sanskritic discursive conventions. Finally, I look at the ways in which Zoroastrian prophetology was transformed through the experience of colonial modernity, focusing especially on the role of the printing press and the creation of a literate public sphere. I argue that the formation of a Parsi colonial consciousness was an experience of loss and recovery, in which traditional Persianate forms of knowledge were replaced by newly introduced sciences of philology, ethnology, and archaeology, fundamentally reshaping the Parsi conception of their religion and religious boundaries. / Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Photographs traverse the world in many forms and for many purposes. They follow and trace movements and networks of people, and have become essential objects in linking the past, present, and future of migrating communities. Vernacular photographs found in the home, encompass a substantial field of neglected knowledge and should be accorded greater attention and analysis in social science research. Vernacular images in academic research are often described as ordinary and mundane, their representational aspects are perceived to be repetitive and unremarkable (portraits, family snapshots etc.). However, this thesis argues that vernacular photographs are privileged objects and it is their universality and social embeddedness that elevates their significance in social science research. Unlike public or institutionalised photographic archives, vernacular archives operate within active social contexts and are alive with social agency. In this thesis, I use Alfred Gell’s anthropological theory of Art and Agency as the framework for conceptualising the social agency of photographs. To support these claims, this research examines the personal photographs found in the vernacular archives of a Gujarati migrant group in Christchurch, New Zealand. The photographs presented by members of this group are found at the centre of their social lives, mirroring their experiences and relationships in visual form. I use the Chakra Wheel as a visual metaphor to symbolise the nature of this group and their photographs. This metaphor speaks directly to the phenomenon of transnationalism and acknowledges that, for migrant communities, these transitioning processes are complex and elaborate, where the foundations of kinship and homemaking are constantly shifting. Vernacular photographs are at the centre of these transnational exchanges and networks, shifting from place to place, creating tangible and virtual threads between individuals, families, villages, and communities. They anchor these relationships at various sites, such as the wall in the family home, in albums, wallets, and on the internet. Vernacular photographs mirror these complex processes, and silently record and embody the social lives of people in a visual way. The mirrored reflection of the vernacular photograph can be both objective and subjective. By using the vernacular photograph as a research medium, in ethnographic research, we can get closer to the lived reality of people’s social lives. To emphasise the privileged position of vernacular photographs, I have chosen to use the methodology of photo-elicitation to position the photograph at the centre of enquiry. The methodology used in this thesis borrows some essential concepts from the discipline of phototherapy. Phototherapy claims that photographs can open up an exploration of us and others and, when the participant has primary agency, the affective force of the photograph is powerful and insightful. This thesis strongly supports these assumptions. Phototherapy uses photographs to explore the thoughts and unconscious processes of individuals. I argue that, in social research, photographs can also be used to explore and ‘open up’ the social world, by positioning the participant as the prime authority of their images, and their images as the vehicle of engagement and communication. By using vernacular photographs in this way, I look at both ‘on the surface’ and ‘below the surface’ of the image, making links with Barthes’ photographic theory and his concepts of ‘studium’ and ‘punctum’. In this thesis, the participants are the curators of their own personal archives. Their photographs give an emic view of their world, emphasising the importance of their migrant history, ancestors, village home, community, and cultural identity. Their photographs mediate agency between persons and places: keeping alive personal and spiritual relationships in the here and now; reinforcing essential familial knowledge systems; and assisting in creating and maintaining community identity and belonging.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the use of the pidgin Fanakalo as a trade language in rural KwaZulu-Natal: its birth under certain historical circumstances; its spread; its apparent growth, post-1990, as new immigrants continue to enter the country and acquire and use Fanakalo out of expediency; and the reasons why Fanakalo continues to thrive in certain contexts. It focuses specifically on similarities between the relations between Gujarati traders and their customers in the 19th century and the relations that exist between Gujarati and Pakistani traders and their Zuluspeaking customers today. Data was collected primarily through semi-structured interviews with nine Gujarati traders – two born in South Africa and the others recent immigrants – five Pakistani traders and ten Zulu speakers, of which two were employees of traders while the others were customers. The results of the data analysis suggest the principles of expediency and non-intimacy may provide a space where Fanakalo can continue to flourish. Pidgins are a neglected element in the study of intercultural communication and the study endeavours to provide pointers for further research in this field. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek die gebruik van die kontaktaal Fanakalo as ‘n handelstaal in nie-stedelike KwaZulu-Natal: die ontstaan daarvan onder sekere historiese omstandighede; die verspreiding daarvan; die waarskynlike groei daarvan, na 1990 met die arrivering van nuwe immigrante wat Fanakalo aanleer en gebruik uit gerief; en die redes waarom Fanakalo voortbestaan en floreer in sekere kontekste. Die spesifieke fokus is die soortgelyke verhoudinge tussen Gujarati-handelaars en hulle klante in die negentiende eeu, en tussen Gujarati- en Pakistani-handelaars en hulle Zoeloesprekende klante vandag. Inligting is hoofsaaklik deur semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude ingewin met nege Gujarati-handelaars – twee in Suid-Afrika gebore en die ander onlangse immigrante – vyf Pakistani-handelaars en tien Zoeloesprekendes, waarvan twee werknemers van handelaars en agt klante was. ‘n Analise van die gegewens dui daarop dat die beginsels van gerief of doelmatigheid, en ongemeensaamheid ‘n ruimte mag skep waarin Fanakalo sal voortbestaan. Die studie van kontaktale behoort meer aandag te geniet in die veld van interkulturele kommunikasie, en hierdie tesis poog om ‘n bydrae daartoe te lewer.