UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Intelligible Tolerance, Ambiguous Tensions, Antagonistic Revelations: Patterns of Muslim-Christian Coexistence in Orthodox Christian Majority Ethiopia A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by John Christopher Dulin Committee in charge: Professor Suzanne Brenner, Chair Professor Joel Robbins, Co-Chair Professor Donald Donham Professor John Evans Professor Rupert Stasch 2016 Copyright John Christopher Dulin, 2016 All rights reserved The Dissertation of John Christopher Dulin is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication in microfilm and electronically: Co-chair Chair University of California, San Diego 2016 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……….....……………………..………………………………….………iii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………iv List of Figures……...…………………………………………………………...………...vi Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………....vii Vita…………...…….……………………………………………………………...….…...x Abstract…………………………………………………………………………...………xi Introduction Muslim-Christian Relations in Northwest Ethiopia and Anthropological Theory…………..…………………………………………………………………..……..1 Chapter 1 Muslims and Christians in Gondaré Time and Space: Divergent Historical Imaginaries and SpatioTemporal Valences………..............................................................……….....35 Chapter 2 Redemptive Ritual Centers, Orthodox Branches and Religious Others…………………80 Chapter 3 The Blessings and Discontents of the Sufi Tree……………………...………………...120 Chapter 4 Muslim-Christian Coexistence as a Social Practice………………….…………………154 Chapter 5 Fluctuating Asymmetries and Antagonistic Secrets……………………………………190 Chapter 6 Land of Blood: Ritual, Value and Antagonistic Surfaces…...……….…………………223 Chapter 7 Ambiguous Antagonism, Nebulous Extremism and Signs of Mechachal in Decline………………………………………………………………………………….257 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...291 Glossary of Terms………………………………………………………….…………...307 iv References…………………………………………………………….………………...309 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Map of Gondar………………………………………….………..……….....…34 Figure 2 Medhani Alem Church 2015...…………………….…….……….…..………...74 Figure 3 Fasilides Castle 2013……...…………………………………..….…………….74 Figure 4 Christmas Day in Piassa 2014..…….………………………....………..………75 Figure 5 Gimchabét Mariam Church in Piassa 2015…………………………………….75 Figure 6 Shékh Ali Gondaré Masjid 2015 ……………………………….……….……..76 Figure 7 Shékh Ali Gondaré Tomb 2015…………………………..………….……...….76 Figure 8 Addis Alem and al-Kadim Masjid 2015...…...….….….……………….………77 Figure 9 Keña Bét Masjid in Arada 2015…….………….…………...……….…………77 Figure 10 Autoparko 2013………...……………………..………………………..……..78 Figure 11 Main Road Passing Autoparko 2014…...……………………..…….…….......78 Figure 12 Piassa 2015……………...…………………………………………………….79 Figure 13 Shops at Saturday Market 2015………………….……………..……..………79 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of my wife and best friend Laura Skaggs Dulin. When I had the choice between pursuing a master’s in Social Work or studying anthropology at the LSE, she encouraged me to study anthropology. She stuck with me through grad school and lived with me in Ethiopia along with our two young children. Also, this last year, she was my main source of funding, working full time, enabling me to dedicate myself fully to child care and dissertation writing. My parents John and Linda Dulin assisted considerably with child care, especially during the final months of accelerated writing. My daughters Seybrielle and Lilly Dulin have been great friends to me, keeping me sane during an isolating process, as well as being understanding and independent while their dad spent hours in front of the computer screen. In addition, thanks to my old high school friends Chris Scott and Janelle Contreras for visiting me in the field and providing a rejuvenating break from a long, challenging project. Tom Boylston has been tremendously helpful at all stages of the project, providing early drafts of his dissertation to familiarize me with Ethiopian Orthodoxy in the Amhara region, giving advice prior to fieldwork that significantly improved the quality of my research, meeting with me twice while in Ethiopia, and reading and commenting upon several chapters of my dissertation. Anita Hannig and Diego Malara also read chapter drafts and provided crucial feedback specific to their expertise on Ethiopian Orthodoxy. Donald Donham responded carefully to my research proposal and position papers, providing detailed guidance and feedback that was indispensable in helping me get my bearings in the region. Regular meetings with Professor Yewubdar vii Demissie in the Comfort Café in Gondar help considerably in the development of Amharic competency. Conversations with Jon Bialecki and comments on drafts of numerous articles helped me develop intellectually throughout my graduate career and helped me develop the argument of this dissertation. Thanks to Jordan Haug for reading portions of the dissertation and providing useful comments. The Institute for Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University helped me secure permission to conduct research in Ethiopia, and provided a stamped letter that helped ensure people in Gondar of my legitimacy as a researcher. Fulbright-Hays and the National Science Foundation provided generous funding for this research. The combination of these two funding sources freed up funds for research assistants, whose dedicated and skillful work as interviewers, transcribers, translators, and liaisons in the field made the breadth and depth of the data in this dissertation possible (I will not name them for the purpose of confidentiality). Of course, both former and present members of my committee provided important guidance along the way. Esra Özyürek helped me with issues concerning religious conflict and pushed me to consider different dimensions of interreligious relations in Gondar. John Evans gave useful feedback on methodology and pushed me to clearly define my terms. From my first year at UCSD until now Rupert Stasch has provided crucial insight into how to go about ethnographic description and analysis, which included helping me address the anthropology of space and otherness. Speaking to those outside my committee, I should also mention that Rita Astuti and Fenella Cannell provided some of my first intensive training and graduate-level conversations in Anthropology while completing the Msc program at the LSE, and helped me see my potential to go on and complete a PhD. While in the field, Nancy Postero and Steve viii Parish provided significant assistance in helping me deal with department and funding matters. Steve Parish also helped me develop my abilities as an ethnographic interviewer, ethnographer and writer. I particularly appreciate Suzanne Brenner’s willingness to be my chair late in the game and deal with all the extra work and responsibility that entails. I also appreciate the detailed criticism she provided to my written work and the encouragement she has given me since I took my first seminar with her my second year at UCSD. Most of all, my original chair, and now co-chair, Joel Robbins has sat with me in countless meetings, and, even at incredibly busy times, read through countless drafts, including drafts of my master’s thesis, position papers, articles I attempted to publish pre- field, as well as, of course, proposal and dissertation drafts. He provided insights and encouragement, pushed me to be theoretically consistent, and make clear, original arguments. Finally, I am indebted to the Orthodox, Muslim and Pentecostal communities in Gondar who welcomed me with great hospitality and were helpful throughout my time there, both aiding with my research and making me feel a part of their communities. Portions of the Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and the Conclusion are taken from the article “Transvaluing ISIS in Orthodox Christian Majority Ethiopia: On the Inhibition of Group Violence,” which has been accepted for publication in Current Anthropology. ix VITA EDUCATION 2005 BS in Social Work, Brigham Young University 2006 Msc in Anthropology of Learning and Cognition, The London School of Economics and Political Science 2010 MA in Anthropology, University of California, San Diego 2016 PhD in Anthropology, University of California, San Diego PUBLICATIONS In press Transvaluing ISIS in Orthodox Christian Majority Ethiopia: On the Inhibition of Violence. Forthcoming in Current Anthropology 2015 Reversing Rupture: Evangelicals' Practice of Jewish Rituals and Processes of Protestant Inclusion. Anthropological Quarterly 88(3) 601-634. 2013 Messianic Judaism as a Mode of Christian Authenticity: Exploring the Grammar of Authenticity through Ethnography of Contested Identity. Anthropos 108: 35-51. AWARDS 2014 Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Research Grant 2014 F.G. Bailey Research Fellowship 2012 National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant 2010 Haydu Prize for best essay on the interaction of culture, behavior and human values 2008 M. E. Spiro Research Fellowship x ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Intelligible Tolerance, Ambiguous Tensions, Antagonistic Revelations: Patterns of Muslim-Christian Coexistence in Orthodox Christian Majority Ethiopia by John Christopher Dulin Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, San Diego Professor Suzanne Brenner, Chair Professor Joel Robbins, Co-chair This dissertation examines movements between harmonic and antagonistic modalities