The Turkish market of Qurâanic translations and studies is exceedingly oversaturated. Critics find some of these lacking in proper hermeneutical judgment, impelling them to reflect on the conditions of judicious Qurâanic exegesis. These reflections have remained relatively unexplored in English academic literature. In Critical Hermeneutics, Ãelik explores and compares the hermeneutical philosophies of three Turkish intellectuals, namely AlpyaÄıl, CündioÄlu, and Ãztürk. By exploring their philosophical views on subjectivity and objectivity in the context of interpreting the Qurâan, Ãelik draws major implications for reading the Qurâan in new and different ways.
Yusuf Ãelik, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities and Islam, and member of the research group Digital Approaches to Sacred Texts at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh on Qurâanic hermeneutics.
Acknowledgements Notes on Citations
1 Introduction
â1âStatus of prior Research
â2âThe Ankara School: History and Hermeneutics
â3âA Return to Theoretical Deliberation
â4âThe Problem of SubjectivityâObjectivity
â5âOverall Structure and Conceptual Framework
2 What Is Qurʾanic Hermeneutics?
â1âIntroduction
â2âKörnerâs Study of Revisionist Qurʾanic Hermeneutics
â3âAn Alternative Definition of Qurʾanic Hermeneutics
â4âCross-Cultural Hermeneutics
â5âQurʾanic Hermeneutics and the Statement
â6âConclusion
3 A Case against Subjectivity and Relativism: The Hermeneutics of Dücane CündioÄlu
â1âIntroduction
â2âThe Meaning of Understanding the Qurʾan
â3âHermeneutical Beginnings
â4âQurʾanic Hermeneutics and Subjectivity
â5âPolysemy, Subjectivity, and the Qurʾan
â6âThe Natural Relations of Expressions
â7âHermeneutics in Practice
â8âThe Evaporation of Meaning and the Qurʾan
â9âObjectivity, Subjectivity, and the Justification of Interpretations
â10âThe Qurʾan as a Linguistic Event
â11âLisan and kelam
â12âThe Diachronic Aspects of Understanding
â13âConclusive Remarks
4 Subjective Bearing Is More Fundamental to Understanding Than Objective Method: The Hermeneutics of Recep AlpyaÄıl
â1âIntroduction
â2âThe Problem of Private Language and Subjectivist Qurʾanic Readings
â3âThe Qurʾan and Art
â4âSeeing-as
â5âFaith and History
â6âClosing Remarks
5 Between Subjective Scruples and Objective Historical Reconstruction: The Hermeneutics of Mustafa Ãztürk
â1âIntroduction
â2âRehabilitating the Historical
â3âThe Two Stages of Interpretation: Reconstruction and Mediation
â4âReconstruction: An Archaeology of Meaning
â5âMediation
â6âThe Inescapable Particularity of Narratives
â7âRediscovering God
â8âThe Teleology of the Sharīʿa
â9âResponding to Criticism
â10âThe Ethics of Interpretative Claims
â11âGuarding the Lines between taḥrÄ«f and taʾwÄ«l
â12âConcluding Remarks
6 Truth, Subjectivity, and Method
â1âIntroduction
â2âTruth and Spirituality
â3âSubjectivity and Truth
â4âObjectivity and Language
â5âConclusion
7 Surplus and Futurity of Meaning: The Status of New and Divergent Readings of the Qurʾan
â1âIntroduction
â2âThe Surplus of Meaning and the Double Significance of Symbols
â3âExcess and Futurity
â4âThe Surplus and Futurity of Meaning in Turkish Qurʾan Hermeneutics
â5âConclusion
8 Final Reflections on the State of Qurʾanic Hermeneutics in Turkey
Bibliography Index
Students and specialists (including their institutions and libraries) that are interested in contemporary Islamic thought, modern theology in Turkey, and Qurâanic hermeneutics.