The Book - The Quran

"Western historians have often argued that Islamic civilization made its greatest mistake in the fifteenth century when it refused to accept the printing press, for this failure supposedly condemned Islamic civilizations to isolation from the mainstream of knowledge. Although Muslims did not use the printing press until the eighteenth century, and then only tentatively, they had other means of transmitting knowledge effectively and broadly, and for the proceeding eight centuries the inhabitants of the Islamic lands- not only Muslims but Christians and Jews as well- controlled the sluicegates of the very same stream of knowledge at which thirsty Europeans repeatedly came to drink."

I was very intrigued by J. Bloom's article "Paper and Books" since I learned much more than I expected to and was so fascinated by what I was reading. Having always known the stories of the Quran, I found it very refreshing to look at it from the perspective of not the stories, but the actual text and the eventual transcription of the words. Due to the reverence of the Quran and its importance for all Muslims, the written word, for the purpose alone of this Holy book, will always be sacred. However, as Bloom mentions, Muslims have learned and experienced the Quran as primarily an oral text, and this holds true for Muslims 1400 years ago and Muslims today.

As is the custom with most Muslims, during Ramadan, every night before we got to break fast, my uncle would find a video from youtube and we would listen to passages from the Quran which were not being read, as one would read the Bible, but were being sung. As important as we find it to read the Quran, people find it more traditional to sing the Quran to audiences as opposed merely reading aloud. This tradition goes back to the very beginning when God told Muhammad, "Recite in the name of thy Lord/ Who taught by pen/ Taught man what he knew not" and the recitation aspect of the Quran has since remained a vital part of Islamic life.

One thing which I found out while talking to my family about this piece was that Muslim teachings state that Muhammad was illiterate and this point is greatly emphasized throughout the Quran. It was explained to me that it is of great importance for Muslims to realize that Muhammad was illiterate and not a man who would be capable of creating or making up stories such as those written in the Quran. Therefore, this makes his recitation of the Quran to people all the more amazing since it could only be through God's help and therefore truly has to be the word of God. In this case, the basis of the religion is actually of Muhammad's lack of ability to read the written word, and instead relies solely on the oral presentation of God's messages.

I found the distinction between the Bible and the Quran in this sense quite interesting since the Bible focuses on "compilation and comparison of manuscript evidence" whereas the Quran puts a much greater emphasis on the oral tradition and views this as the authority for determining the written text, and not the other way around. The authority of orality goes so far in the Quran that God's first message to Muhammad is to "Recite in the name of thy lord," and there is no thought to writing or transcribing the Holy words.

The French and their Fairy Tales

As disappointed as I was with the Howsam reading, I must admit that I greatly enjoyed Darnot's take on fairy tales. Although I was aware that fairy tales and folklore must have been changed as they were told from one generation to another, I was not aware that the culture of the people telling the stories would dictate the content is such a powerful way. The French have always struck me as being more eccentric and sexually-free than Americans, but even with such a forewarning I was shocked- and of course amused- when I read the eighteenth century French version of Little Red Riding Hood. It truly did seem like a raunchy story for adults and it is hard to fathom that this particular French story is what has transpired into one of the most beloved children's stories. I had also never thought to consider this tale as a symbolic story about the coming-of-age of a young girl with the red cape representing menstruation, the bottle symbolizing virginity, and the wolf representing the "ravishing male". For some reason that I cannot quite put my finger on, I do not like to think of this story as anything besides a children's tale with no hidden symbolism or deeper meaning other than that of "listen to your mother." With everything that I have to read and analyze as an English major, I took pleasure in being able to read a story and know that what I read was what I was all I was supposed to take away from the story and that no level of deeper thinking was required. I cherish the memories of the childhood fairy tales that I was told and to think that they had been-tainted, perhaps?- by a more cynical meaning saddens me.
One point with which I had to agree was, "No matter how accurate they may be, the recorded versions of the tales cannot convey the effects that must have brought the stories to life in the eighteenth century: the dramatic pauses, the sly glances, the use of gestures to set the scene..." When reading this, I realized that as much as I hate being read to- hence my dislike of audio books- there is something almost magical when someone is actually telling you a story, especially when it is a beloved parent, uncle, or grandmother who takes the time to act out the scenes, the sound effects, and the different voices. No matter how well a book may be written and despite wonderful use of description, nothing will be able to match the level of awe that a child has when a story is being told to her for the first time from someone who takes the time to cater the story to her likes and make it as wonderful an experience of possible.

Old Books and New Histories

What is it about something seemingly so simple as the book that has so many scholars up in arms about every aspect of it ranging from the historical aspect, the literary importance, and its bibliographical significance. I was hoping to get some enlightenment after reading Howsam's book, and although I clearly found way more information than I expected to find in such a "little book", I came away sadly disappointed. I felt as if Howsam's desire to remain as fair as possible prevented her from truly submitting any of the disciplines to a deeper degree of critical analysis and this made the reader -or at least me anyways- feel as if they had just been given a brief summary of all of the aspects that make "the book" great as opposed to a truly meaningful insight as to why. Still, one must give credit to Howsam for how she manages to bring a balance between the different methods and make everything that creates "the book" flow so seemingly smoothly. It almost seems from the way Howsam has arranged her book and her arguments that she has a deep respect for all of the different aspects of "the book" and wishes for a happy, albeit perhaps elementary approach, of "Can't we all just get along?"
One thing which Howsam said which really had my attention was "In the material sense the book is of course everywhere in historical study, the the book in the sense of being a vehicle for thinking about the past is just coming into its own" (PG 46). I found her approach to thinking of the book as something which has its own story and history very refreshing. It was very interesting to think about the book's place in history for the first time as opposed to the book merely being the tool which records it.
The one thing that was somewhat strange to me was Howsam's use of end notes as opposed to the more commonplace footnotes and although she explained this was done so as to not overburden the text, I almost found it ironic since she pegs the bibliographical discipline of "the book" as being so important, yet her end notes made reading quite difficult and distracting at times.
Although I found the reading dry for the majority of the book, I give Howsam credit for being able to write a book on "the book" and realize that this is a difficult topic to make riveting and this book was able to at least inform me as to certain aspects of the book which I had never considered before.