Introduction
Introduction
The introduction places the book in the context of the larger literature on Islam in Anatolia. It explains how this book is part of a recent wave of studies that take a critical, revisionist approach to the deeply entrenchedparadigmdeveloped by the early-twentieth century Turkish historian Fuad Köprülü, highlighting in particular the perils of a binary vision of religion based on high Islam and folk Islam, and the ahistorical application of the notion of syncretism in Alevi-Bektashi studies. The introduction also offers an outline of Alevi beliefs, rituals, and socio-religious organization, discusses the recently surfaced Kizilbash/Alevi manuscripts and documents that form the book’s primary source base, summarized the major themes and argumentsthat emerge from them, and explains the organization of the chapters around these themes.
Keywords: Alevi Cultural Revival, Köprülü paradigm, religious syncretism, Alevi ocak system, Alevi written sources, Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, Ghulat, “Extremist Shi’ites,” Kurdish Alevis, Zaza Alevis
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