Between Quran and Kafka West-Eastern Affinities

What connects Shiite passion plays with BrechtÂs drama? Which of GoetheÂs poems were inspired by the Quran? How can Ibn ArabiÂs 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? ÂOne who knows himself and others will here too understand: Orient and Occident are no longer separableÂ: 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 KermaniÂs speech on receiving GermanyÂs highest literary prize, an impassioned plea for greater fraternity in the face of the tyranny and terrorism of Islamic State. KermaniÂs 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 Âbetween Quran and KafkaÂ.

ISBN:	9781509500345
Publisher:	Polity Press
Imprint:	Polity Press
Published date:	02 Sep 2016
DEWEY:	830.9
DEWEY edition:	23
Language:	English
Number of pages:	xv, 303
Weight:	472g
Height:	154mm
Width:	229mm
Spine width:	24mm

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