Name: Between Quran and Kafka: West-Eastern Affinities
SKU: 48928003
Price: 1428.00 ZAR
Availability: InStock
Author: Kermani, Navid
ISBN: 9781509500338

portada Between Quran and Kafka: West-Eastern Affinities

Between Quran and Kafka: West-Eastern Affinities

Type

Physical Book

Author

Navid Kermani

Publisher

Polity Press

Language

English

Pages

300

Format

Hardcover

Dimensions

23.1x15.5x2.8 cm

Weight

0.59 kg.

ISBN13

9781509500338

Synopsis "Between Quran and Kafka: West-Eastern Affinities"

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 diverse 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 from one another by force. Between Quran and Kafka concludes with Kermani�s speech on receiving Germany�s highest literary prize, an impassioned plea for greater fraternity in the face of the tyranny and terrorism of Islamic State. Kermani�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�.

Navid Kermani

(Author)

View Author's Page

Navid Kermani (Siegen, Germany, November 27, 1967) is one of the most influential writers, essayists, and orientalists in Europe, son of Iranian immigrants and a key figure in the dialogue between Western and Islamic cultures. PhD in Islamic Studies, he studied Philosophy and Theatre Studies in Cologne, Cairo, and Bonn, and has taught and lectured at international universities. His work deeply explores themes such as Islam, spirituality, European identity, and intercultural coexistence, always from a humanistic, critical, and reflective perspective. A regular contributor to prominent media such as Die Zeit, Spiegel, and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he currently resides in Cologne.

Awarded with prestigious prizes such as the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (2015), the Kleist Prize, the Joseph Breitbach Prize, the Hannah Arendt Prize, and the Thomas Mann Prize (2024), Kermani is considered a bridge between East and West for his intellectual rigor and literary ability. Among his most recognized works are Gott ist schön (God is Beautiful), Zwischen Koran und Kafka (Between the Quran and Kafka), Einbruch der Wirklichkeit, and Between Us Fear (Entlang den Gräben), books in which he merges scholarship, politics, and narrative sensitivity, offering a committed perspective on the understanding between peoples and religions.

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