Description
Book SynopsisIn this magisterial cultural and intellectual history, Thomas Bauer reconsiders classical and modern Islam by tracing differing attitudes toward ambiguity. Over a span of many centuries, he explores the tension between one strand that aspires to annihilate all uncertainties and a competing tendency that looks for ways to live with complexity.
Trade ReviewBoth the non-specialist and the seasoned scholar will come away from this book rethinking at least part of what they thought they know about Islamic culture in its past and present incarnations. * TLS *
Thomas Bauer takes his audience on a delightfully opinionated and provocative journey through premodern Islamic cultural and intellectual history. His apt use of the theoretical lens of ambiguity will make readers look at both premodern and modern Islamic cultures—and beyond them at all cultural expressions—with new eyes. -- Ahmed El Shamsy, author of
Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual TraditionThomas Bauer's
A Culture of Ambiguity belongs to the rare class of books that can change our thinking about a whole era of history—here premodern Islam. It is highly innovative and offers new ways of understanding Arabic literature, from the Qur'an via Islamic law to the
Arabian Nights. -- Frank Griffel, author of
The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in IslamIn this wonderful book, Thomas Bauer offers a truly fresh history of how Islam was lived and interpreted before the nineteenth century. With a focus on 'ambiguity,' he tells a fascinating story well beyond hackneyed clichés of 'medieval' bigots and zealots. Elegantly written, often witty, and always erudite, this is an outstandingly enjoyable must-read for anyone interested in Islam. -- Konrad Hirschler, coeditor of
The Damascus Fragments: Towards a History of the Qubbat al-khazna Corpus of Manuscripts and DocumentsBauer’s alternative history, postmodern in vision and method, debunks the modernist narrative and repudiates all its teleological claims. It shows that the modernist solution to the human problem has its own flaws as the modernist utopia has its own deficits. * Muslim World Book Review *
An exciting and highly recommended publication for both students of Islam and members of the public with an interest in acquiring an informed, critical knowledge of Islam’s complex history. * Journal of Arabic Literature *
Table of ContentsForeword
Introduction
1. Cultural Ambiguity
2. Does God Speak in Textual Variants?
3. Does God Speak Ambiguously?
4. The Blessing of Dissent
5. The Islamization of Islam
6. Language: A Serious Business and a Game
7. The Ambiguity of Sexual Desire
8. The Serene Look at the World
9. In Quest of Certainty
Notes
Bibliography
Index
