The Composition of the Qur’an: Rhetorical Analysis

Description

The text of the Qur’an appears to many to be desperately muddled and lacking any coherence. The Composition of the Qur’an provides a systematic presentation of the writing processes (or rhetoric) and argues that there is indeed a coherence to the Qur’anic text. Michel Cuypers shows that the ancient Semitic texts, of which the Qur’an is a part, do not obey the Greek rhetoric and that their basic principle is therefore not progressive linearity, but symmetry which can take several forms, following precise rules. He argues that the knowledge of this rhetorical code allows for a radically new analysis of the structure and rhetoric of the Qur’an. Using copious amounts of examples from the text, The Composition of the Qur’an provides a new theoretical synthesis of Qur’anic rhetoric as well as a methodology for their application in further exegesis. A landmark publication in the field of Qur’anic Studies, this volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers in Islamic Studies, Religious Studies and Arabic Studies. The text of the Qur’an appears to many people desperately muddled and lacking any coherence. This book proposes a systematic presentation of the writing processes (or rhetoric) that ensures, on the contrary, the coherence of the Qur’anic text. The ancient Semitic texts, of which the Qur’an is a part, do not obey the Greek rhetoric. Their basic principle is not a progressive linearity, but symmetry, which can take several forms, following precise rules. The knowledge of this rhetorical code allows a more confident understanding of the text. The rules of the Semitic rhetoric were regrettably not written down by the scribes of the ancient oriental world, as were the rules of the Greek rhetoric. It is from a meticulous examination of the texts of the Bible that a lineage of scholars gradually rediscovered, from the middle of the eighteenth century onwards, the principles that managed their composition. Today, this theory has reached maturity, and Roland Meynet, exegete of the Bible, has been able to make a systematic presentation of it in his Treatise on Biblical Rhetoric. The present work is widely inspired by it, in order to propose a theoretical synthesis of ‘the Qur’anic rhetoric’, illustrated by numerous examples borrowed from the Qur’an. Next to the rules of this rhetoric, this book proposes to the student or to the researcher a methodology for their application, with the aim of reaching an exegesis of the Qur’an, really based on the text. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Introduction List of Abbreviations Transliteration 1. The Question of the Coherence of the Qur’anic Text In the Islamic tradition In modern Western research From Biblical studies to Qur’anic studies A brief explanation of the method The presuppositions of the rhetorical analysis 2. Binarity and Parataxis, two Characteristics of Qur’anic Rhetoric Binarity Parataxis 3. The Levels of Composition The term The member The segment The piece The part The sub-parts The passage The sequence The sub-sequence The section The Book 4. The Figures of Composition A. Total symmetries 1 Parallel composition 2 Mirror composition 3 Concentric composition B. Partial symmetries Initial terms Final terms Extreme terms Median terms Central terms The convergence of indicators 5. The Centre of Concentric Composition First law of Lund Second law of Lund Third law of Lund Fourth law of Lund Fifth law of Lund The divine names The quotation The question The maxim 6. The Work of Analysis and Re-writing Some general principles for the work of analysis The re-writing according to the levels of the text 7. Context, Intertext and Interpretation 8. Looking Ahead Other figures of composition? Semitic rhetoric? Near Eastern? Archaic? Spontaneous oral rhetoric or written erudite rhetoric? Notes References Index of Authors Quoted Index of Qur’anic References Index of Subjects