pt. 1. The Carnivalesque Paradigm : Muharram as Transgression -- The Carnivalesque Public : Beyond Habermas -- pt. 2. The Safavids in the Transcultural Context -- A History of (Safavid) Muharram Rituals -- Necro-Public and the Safavid Ritual Theater State : City, Social Death, and Power -- Spaces of Misrule : The Carnivalesque Safavid Isfahani Muharram -- Conclusion: The Isfahani Public Sphere
Summary
This first systematic study of a wide range of Persian and European archival and primary sources, analyzes how the Muharram rituals changed from being an orginally devotional practice to public events of political significance, setting the stage for the emergence of the early modern Iranian public sphere in the Safavid period
