Reading the Quran can be quite disorienting for anyone who wishes to explore the holy book of Islam independently. It contains repetitions, a diversity of literary genres, and numerous and often complex allusions. This is because the text must be understood in dialogue both with the literary traditions that preceded it, notably the Bible and Syriac patristic texts, and with the interpretive traditions that later sought to explain it. In this talk, Rev. Adrien Caniard, O.P., will examine the Quran from a reader’s perspective and place the holy book in a historical context.
This event is sponsored by the Future of the Humanities Project and the Georgetown Humanities Initiative at Georgetown University with Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. It is part of the series Cultural Encounters: Books that Have Made a Difference.
