Living with Djinns: Understanding and Dealing with the Invisible in Cairo

by Barbara Drieskens

The djinn is an invisible spirit with a will of its own that may hide in the bathroom, lurk in dark alleys or under staircases to seep through the pores of its victims and possess them. Djinns have long been an explanation for illness and misfortune and an excuse for unconventional behaviour.

Barbara Drieskens has conducted extensive research among lower-middle class families in Cairo today to see how modern Egyptians make a place for these ancient beings in their busy lives. She recounts the impact of djinns on both men and women, as these spirits are not restricted (or do not restrict themselves) to the domestic world of women.

Given that djinns can be anywhere – within the body of the possessed or anywhere outside them – Drieskens pays particular attention to concepts of person and space. She also explores the importance of storytelling in Egyptian society and recounts first-hand experiences of djinns and possession in this unique ethnographic study.

Barbara Drieskens is an urban anthropologist and an assistant visiting professor at the American University of Beirut. Her present research in Beirut focuses on the issues of freedom and social control. She is the co-editor of Cities of the South: Citizenship and Exclusion in the 21st Century (Saqi).

Genres: Islam, Nonfiction, Middle East, Anthropology

266 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2008

Reviews

[Maryam Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a rather strange combination of really interesting information and a really dry and somewhat dull tone, and that's a bit of a shame. Because the subject[s] she discusses are fascinating, the detail she gives is impressive, and Drieskens is approaching it from a very personal perspective, it feels like it could and should be a somewhat livelier read. It seems almost as if she is holding back to prevent it from coming across as potentially sensationalist, which is understandable, but it's something of a disservice to the book. As it is, it reads in a rather dry and academic tone, and I think renders the book a bit less captivating (which it really ought to be). Nevertheless, worth the time.

[Noel Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

book #22 of 2022: Living with Djinns: Understanding and Dealing with the Invisible in Cairo (pub. 2008) by urban anthropologist and assistant visiting professor at the American University of Beirut, Barbara Drieskens. I’ve read several fantasies recently, and less recently, about djinns (genies), a particularly fascinating fire spirit from pre-Islamic Middle Eastern lore. so, I decided it was time to read a non-fiction about them…sort of. this book was very hard to find. I tried to buy it from a bookseller in Singapore, but they wouldn’t even make an exception to ship it to the US because books sent here were too frequently lost in shipping. in desperation, I finally asked the library if it was available through interlibrary loan: it was! it took a bit to arrive and when it finally did, I didn’t know what to expect from a nonfiction book on djinns…. the first chapter was pretty unpromising and I was having a hard time sticking to it, as it felt punishing: the author’s lack of understanding of the culture and how to approach her research topic were painfully evident (I was unhappily reminded of Shakespeare: The World As Stage by Bill Bryson, a 350 page study of what we don’t know about Shakespeare - 15 years later, I still can’t get the gall out of my mouth that that author so wasted my time), however, by the second chapter, her academic chops and cultural immersion finally came forward and what she presented was a fascinating look into lower middle class life in modern Cairo. it was extremely reminiscent in countless aspects to the book I read last year on Roma population in Romania, Exploring Gypsiness: Power, Exchange, and Interdependence in a Transylvanian Village by Ada Engebrigsten (pub. 2007), though interestingly, this author didn’t cite it as a reference, so who knows if she’d read it, though I must assume she had: I can’t be more abreast of anthropological releases than an anthropological doctoral student, which the author was at the time of writing, though it did come out just a year ahead, so maybe not? Some of the overlaps between the Roma and the Cairenes (the name for dwellers of Cairo) included family structures; some elements of economy; stories and characterizations of people, esp of the narrator themselves, changing depending on audience and occasion (shifting truth); particular spiritual customs such as palm, coffee grounds, and shell readings; admiration of the nomadic life - and here the author overtly calls out the “gipsy” similarity (pg 177); strictures of privacy, modesty, character, and reputation, all while living in constrained spaces, which forced sharing of some of the very most basic resources; etc. the discussion of the djinns, and other beings and aspects of the invisible world, was a careful line that the author, and indeed her study subjects, drew amidst many other considerations: Islam, community, mental and general health issues, challenging domestic situations, legal concerns, etc. it is clear that even those who believe most strongly in djinns see some possessions as merely a convenient means of protecting the reputation, as well as the family’s reputation, of someone exhibiting culturally deviant behavior, in as much as the ever watchful community is privy to such excesses or lifestyles. it is also clear that such ancient beliefs and the customs they inform, that go beyond the text of the Qur’an, are beginning to evaporate due to a recent resurgence of religiously in the city and the expense of hiring the appropriate spiritual guides. this is one of those exceptionally rare cases where continuing reading actually paid off, though my most pressing forcing function was that I have to return the book to the library in just over an hour.

[Sharon Buchbinder]

Only on page 18, but already a fascinating look at the culture and encounters with Djinns.