Stanford scholar explores Arabic obsession with language A scholar of literature and the intellectual history of the medieval Arab and Persian worlds, Key is fascinated by how 11th-century Arabic thinkers developed successful theories about metaphor and language. Most significant, he says, is the fact that these scholars were working with what appear to be basic structural assumptions about words and meanings that we just never had in the West. Im struck by the many points, particularly around metaphor, where the medieval Arabs and Persians may have just done a better job than we have been managing to do with these same questions, Key said. Key also found that the early scholars benefited from a holistic perspective. The ancients lacked the modern methodological divide between arts and sciences, and so were able to see language as a cognitive function shared between poetry and logic. Keys latest research showcases the Arab worlds unique understandings of language across grammar, logic, poetics, law and theology. The monograph connects four towering cultural figures of the Arabic 10th and 11th centuries: literary theorist Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, philosopher Ibn Sina (Avicenna), literary scholar and exegete Raghib al-Isfahani and theologian and jurist Ibn al-Furak. Key found that they shared sets of assumptions, with an absolutely fixed, established terminology about the workings of language, which contemporary scholarship has slid over because it appears to be so commonplace. The shared academic terminology helped medieval Arabic thinkers solidify their understanding of the relationship between words and ideas. For these scholars, Key says, such knowledge was the start of a process that presented nothing less than the possibility of establishing a theory for everything – an account of how humanity functioned. Over the ages, Arabic scholars have been committed to understanding the mechanics of language. It became a scientific pursuit, said Key. And, as he pointed out, the considerable work by these theorists was a reflection of societys obsession with language. Beginning as early as the eighth century, Arabic educators and intellectual society in general emphasized the importance of the written and spoken word. The philosophy of language has been a fundamental part of the Arabic curriculum for nearly a millennium, Key said. Language also had resonance outside of purely intellectual circles. In the Middle Ages, Key said, Politicians cared about poetry, and logicians cared about language. Literature was the source of cultural capital for everyone, and consequently it was the battleground upon which struggles over identity and power took place.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 05:18:32 +0000
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