Between Quran and Kafka : west-eastern affinities / Navid Kermani ; translated by Tony Crawford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kermani, Navid, 1967- author.

Contributor:

Crawford, Tony, translator.

Standardized Title:

Zwischen Koran und Kafka. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

German literature--History and criticism.

German literature.

Religion and literature.

East and West.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xv, 303 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; Malden, MA : Polity Press, [2016].

Language Note:

Translated from German.

Summary:

What connects Shiite passion plays with Brecht's drama? Which of Goethe's poems were inspired by the Quran? How can Ibn Arabi's theology of sighs explain the plays of Heinrich von Kleist? And why did the Persian author Sadeq Hedayat identify with the Prague Jew Franz Kafka? One who knows himself and others will here too understand: Orient and Occident are no longer separable: in this new book, the critically acclaimed author and scholar Navid Kermani takes Goethe at his word. He reads the Quran as a poetic text, opens Eastern literature to Western readers, unveils the mystical dimension in the works of Goethe and Kleist, and deciphers the political implications of theatre, from Shakespeare to Lessing to Brecht. Drawing striking comparisons between a diverse range of literary traditions and cultures, Kermani argues for a literary cosmopolitanism that is opposed to all those who would play religions and cultures against one another, isolating them by force from one another. Between Quran and Kafka concludes with Kermani's speech on receiving Germany s highest literary prize, an impassioned plea for greater fraternity when confronted with the tyranny and terrorism of Islamic State. 0Kermani's personal assimilation of the classics gives his work that topical urgency that distinguishes universal literature when it speaks to our most intimate feelings. For of course love too lies between Quran and Kafka.

Contents:

1 Don't Follow the Poets!: The Quran and Poetry 1

2 Revolt against God: Attar and Suffering 17

3 World without God: Shakespeare and Man 37

4 Heroic Weakness: Lessing and Terror 51

5 God Breathing: Goethe and Religion 74

6 Filth of My Soul: Kleist and Love 95

7 The Truth of Theatre: The Shiite Passion Play and Alienation 106

8 Liberate Bayreuth!: Wagner and Empathy 128

9 Swimming in the Afternoon: Kafka and Germany 141

10 The Duty of Literature: Hedayat and Kafka 155

11 Towards Europe: Zweig and the Borders 167

12 In Defence of the Glass Bead Game: Hesse and Decadence 187

13 The Violence of Compassion: Arendt and Revolution 205

14 Tilting at Windmills: Mosebach and the Novel 220

15 One God, One Wife, One Cheese: Golshiri and Friendship 227

16 Sing the Quran Singingly: Neuwirth and Literalist Piety 237.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Kermani, Navid, 1967- author. Between Quran and Kafka.

ISBN:

9781509500338

1509500332

9781509500345

1509500340

OCLC:

940342167