Religione e regionalismo nell’Egitto ottomano attraverso una ricognizione dei generi e dei temi della letteratura religiosa

Abstract

In this paper we will examine how religious literature in Ottoman Egypt (16th–19th century), in continuity with the production of the Mamluk period, contributed to celebrate the geographical boundary in order to claim the lost centrality of Egypt, at that time a province of the Ottoman Empire. We will focus on genres and themes of this literature, which has intensified a feeling of belonging to the land that has influenced the nationalist thought emerged in the Nahḍa. In particular we will draw attention to Sufi literature, such as ṭabaqāt, manāqib and devotional treatises. These genres enhanced the strength of Egypt by celebrating the unicity of its religious landscape and the utmost powers of its saints. How has the geographical boundary been rewritten in the religious literature of the Ottoman period?