Beyond Synthesis: A Review of Epsita Haldar’s ‘Reclaiming Karbala’

Summary In Reclaiming Karbala, Epsita Haldar challenges traditional views on religious modernization and cultural formation among Bengali Muslims. She argues that they developed a unique form of modernity by embracing “productive ambivalence,” navigating cultural and religious tensions without a “facile synthesis.” The book demonstrates how they used a “contact nebula” of multilingual sources and created […]