Ethnography of a Secret – Alleged Jewish Life in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
- Termin in der Vergangenheit
- Montag, 8. Mai 2023, 18:15 Uhr
- Südasien-Institut, Gebäude 4310, Raum 010.00.06, Voßstraße 2, 69115 Heidelberg
- Dr. Jürgen Schaflechner, Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie
“Where are Pakistan’s Jews today?” This question has fascinated numerous writers, journalists, and, more recently, digital content producers in Pakistan. While some believe that all Jews have left the Islamic Republic, others claim that a small (and potentially influential) group still lives in hiding in Pakistan today. The arrival of social media has further proliferated reports of allegedly hidden and influential Jewish life, exacerbating the passions surrounding crypto-Judaism.
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Südasien-Institut
Gebäude 4310, Raum 010.00.06
Voßstraße 2
69115 Heidelberg
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The origin of this fascination is twofold. On the one hand, it can be linked to religious and political discourses in Pakistan, frequently infused with antizionist and antisemitic tropes. On the other hand, it is connected to notions of secret Jewish power found in popular culture and often directly elevated from the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This paper reflects on the intense, ambivalent, and contagious passions produced by the trope of the hidden Jewish presence in the Islamic Republic. I also show how the practices of secrecy surrounding this mystery have not only provided my interlocuters with novel capabilities within their quite precarious lifeworlds but also caused me to become a part of the very secret I had come to unravel.