Literature and the sacred.The article focuses on the intellectual and religious problems facing the researcher using literary methodology, when approaching religious texts in general and the Qur'an in particular. The article recounts the 1947 controversy over a doctoral dissertation submitted to Cairo University Cairo University (previously the Egyptian University and later Fouad the First University) is an institute of higher education located in Giza, Egypt. The university was founded on December 21, 1908 as the result of an effort to establish a national center for , entitled "The Narrative Art in the Holy Qur'an." It was rejected after heated debate and the author, Muhammad Ahmad Khalafallah--an assistant lecturer then--was transferred to a non-teaching job. The article attempts to situate sit·u·ate tr.v. sit·u·at·ed, sit·u·at·ing, sit·u·ates 1. To place in a certain spot or position; locate. 2. To place under particular circumstances or in a given condition. adj. this debate within earlier literary approaches to the study of the Qur'an and particularly the theory of the medieval critic 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani and his notion of i'jaz (inimitability in·im·i·ta·ble adj. Defying imitation; matchless. [Middle English, from Latin inimit ) and nazm (poetic syntax). The article explores how the literary approach has developed in Islamic studies during al-Nahda (Arab Renaissance) and the problematic question of relation between Qur'anic narration and history. The article concludes by proposing ways of honing the literary method on the basis of new epistemic ep·i·ste·mic adj. Of, relating to, or involving knowledge; cognitive. [From Greek epist  m foundations.
********** This issue of Alif covers the complex relationship between the literary and the holy across cultures and ages. It highlights treatment of the sacred in literary texts and traditions, the literary dimensions of sacred texts, the impact of the sacred on the literary imagination, the role of the literary in the sacred experience, and the contestations between literature and the sacred over the constitution of cultural and social norms. Articles in this issue explore the philosophical basis underlying distinctions between the beautiful and the holy as well as investigating the socio-political institutionalization Institutionalization The gradual domination of financial markets by institutional investors, as opposed to individual investors. This process has occurred throughout the industrialized world. of the sacred. The problematic of literary approach and strategies of literary reading of holy texts are juxtaposed jux·ta·pose tr.v. jux·ta·posed, jux·ta·pos·ing, jux·ta·pos·es To place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. to analysis of poetry with religious or blasphemous blas·phe·mous adj. Impiously irreverent. [Middle English blasfemous, from Late Latin blasph motifs in Arabic, German, French, Turkish, and Urdu. Romance and fiction which incorporate sacred issues are addressed in their cultural and historical contexts: medieval France, nineteenth-century Russia, and contemporary Egypt and Maghreb. Alif, a refereed multilingual journal appearing annually in the spring, presents articles in Arabic, English and occasionally French. The different traditions and languages confront and complement each other in its pages. Each issue includes and welcomes original articles. The next issues will center on the following themes: Alif 24: Archeology of Literature: Tracing the Old in the New. Alif 25: Edward Said and Critical Decolonization decolonization Process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country. Decolonization was gradual and peaceful for some British colonies largely settled by expatriates but violent for others, where native rebellions were energized by nationalism. . Alif 26: Wanderlust: Travel Literature. |
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