Bayān, Gesture, and Genre: Self-Positioning in al-Jurjānī’s Introductions
This article examines the generic affiliations in the introductions to ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī’s (d. 471/1078 or 474/1081) Asrār al-balāgha and Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz, identifying their interlocutors, polemical purposes, and generic aspirations. Asrār al-balāgha aims to displace al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/868-9) a...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2018
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In: |
Journal of Abbasid Studies
Year: 2018, Volume: 5, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 58-104 |
Further subjects: | B
ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī
bayān
ishāra
language theory
legal theory
uṣūl al-fiqh
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Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
Summary: | This article examines the generic affiliations in the introductions to ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī’s (d. 471/1078 or 474/1081) Asrār al-balāgha and Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz, identifying their interlocutors, polemical purposes, and generic aspirations. Asrār al-balāgha aims to displace al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/868-9) as a theorist, while Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz addresses not only the Muʿtazilī theologian ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. ca. 415/1024), but also a group espousing an instrumentalist language theory, whom I identify as legal theorists (uṣūlīs) of all stripes. Al-Jurjānī’s critique alerts us to a history of instrumentalist language theory, and allows for a richer reexamination of the multifarious afterlife of al-Jāḥiẓ’s theory of communication (bayān), and his concept of gesture (ishāra). His critique of the instrumentalist group reflects a concern among fifth/eleventh-century legal theorists to ground their discipline more deeply in philology, especially grammar. |
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ISSN: | 2214-2371 |
Contains: | In: Journal of Abbasid Studies
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/22142371-12340038 |