Reading the Qur'ān in Latin Christendom, 1140-1560

Reading the Qur'ān in Latin Christendom, 1140-1560
By:Thomas E. Burman
Published on 2007 by University of Pennsylvania Press

Selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title Most of what we know about attitudes toward Islam in the medieval and early modern West has been based on polemical treatises against Islam written by Christian scholars preoccupied with defending their own faith and attacking the doctrines of others. Christian readings of the Qur'an have in consequence typically been depicted as tedious and one-dimensional exercises in anti-Islamic hostility. In Reading the Qur'an in Latin Christendom, 1140-1560, Thomas E. Burman looks instead to a different set of sources: the Latin translations of the Qur'an made by European scholars and the manuscripts and early printed books in which these translations circulated. Using these largely unexplored materials, Burman argues that the reading of the Qur'an in Western Europe was much more complex. While their reading efforts were certainly often focused on attacking Islam, scholars of the period turned out to be equally interested in a whole range of grammatical, lexical, and interpretive problems presented by the text. Indeed, these two approaches were interconnected: attacking the Qur'an often required sophisticated explorations of difficult Arabic grammatical problems. Furthermore, while most readers explicitly denounced the Qur'an as a fraud, translations of the book are sometimes inserted into the standard manuscript format of Christian Bibles and other prestigious Latin texts (small, centered blocks of text surrounded by commentary) or in manuscripts embellished with beautiful decorated initials and elegant calligraphy for the pleasure of wealthy collectors. Addressing Christian-Muslim relations generally, as well as the histories of reading and the book, Burman offers a much fuller picture of how Europeans read the sacred text of Islam than we have previously had.

This Book was ranked at 14 by Google Books for keyword Fall Reading.

Book ID of Reading the Qur'ān in Latin Christendom, 1140-1560's Books is 7O46XUXEQ-gC, Book which was written byThomas E. Burmanhave ETAG "LUPHElpLEZw"

Book which was published by University of Pennsylvania Press since 2007 have ISBNs, ISBN 13 Code is 9780812240184 and ISBN 10 Code is 0812240189

Reading Mode in Text Status is false and Reading Mode in Image Status is true

Book which have "317 Pages" is Printed at BOOK under CategoryHistory

This Book was rated by Raters and have average rate at ""

This eBook Maturity (Adult Book) status is NOT_MATURE

Book was written in en

eBook Version Availability Status at PDF is true and in ePub is false

Book Preview