Misères et splendeurs d’un mendicant dans 'Le Seigneur vous le rendra' de Mahi Binebine by Mohamed Semlali

“…Thus the protagonist goes from being a simple fairground beast who flaunts his disproportionate physique for a few coins to becoming a storyteller, a fabulator, a creator of worlds. In the meantime, the tale gives way to the novel and the child, now an adult, regains a certain bodily normality, which is not a guarantee of happiness. …”
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Making Maoshan Great Again: Religious Rhetoric and Popular Mobilisation from Late Qing to Republican China (1864–1937) by Qijun Zheng

“…Through a detailed analysis of primary sources, including editions of the <i>Maoshan Gazetteer</i>, liturgical manuals such as the scripture (<i>jing</i> 經), litany (<i>chan</i> 懺), and performative texts such as the precious scroll (<i>baojuan</i> 寶卷) of the Three Mao Lords, this study identifies six key rhetoric strategies employed by Maoshan Daoists, using the acronym IMPACT: (1) Incorporation: Appending miracle tales (<i>lingyan ji</i> 靈驗記) and divine medicine (<i>xianfang</i> 仙方) to address immediate and practical needs of contemporary society; (2) Memory: Preserving doctrinal continuity while invoking cultural nostalgia to reinforce connections to traditional values and heritage; (3) Performance: Collaborating with professional storytellers to disseminate vernacularized texts through oral performances, thereby reaching broader audiences including the illiterate. (4) Abridgment: Condensing lengthy texts into concise and accessible formats; (5) Canonization: Elevating the divine status of deities through spirit-writing, thereby enhancing their religious authority; (6) Translation: Rendering classical texts into vernacular language for broader accessibility. …”
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