Critical Hermeneutics

Yusuf Çelik, 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 Qur’anic hermeneutics.

Acknowledgements

Notes on Citations



1 Introduction

 1 Status of prior Research

 2 The Ankara School: History and Hermeneutics

 3 A Return to Theoretical Deliberation

 4 The Problem of Subjectivity–Objectivity

 5 Overall Structure and Conceptual Framework



2 What Is Qurʾanic Hermeneutics?

 1 Introduction

 2 Körner’s Study of Revisionist Qurʾanic Hermeneutics

 3 An Alternative Definition of Qurʾanic Hermeneutics

 4 Cross-Cultural Hermeneutics

 5 Qurʾanic Hermeneutics and the Statement

 6 Conclusion



3 A Case against Subjectivity and Relativism: The Hermeneutics of Dücane Cündioğlu

 1 Introduction

 2 The Meaning of Understanding the Qurʾan

 3 Hermeneutical Beginnings

 4 Qurʾanic Hermeneutics and Subjectivity

 5 Polysemy, Subjectivity, and the Qurʾan

 6 The Natural Relations of Expressions

 7 Hermeneutics in Practice

 8 The Evaporation of Meaning and the Qurʾan

 9 Objectivity, Subjectivity, and the Justification of Interpretations

 10 The Qurʾan as a Linguistic Event

 11 Lisan and kelam

 12 The Diachronic Aspects of Understanding

 13 Conclusive Remarks



4 Subjective Bearing Is More Fundamental to Understanding Than Objective Method: The Hermeneutics of Recep Alpyağıl

 1 Introduction

 2 The Problem of Private Language and Subjectivist Qurʾanic Readings

 3 The Qurʾan and Art

 4 Seeing-as

 5 Faith and History

 6 Closing Remarks



5 Between Subjective Scruples and Objective Historical Reconstruction: The Hermeneutics of Mustafa Öztürk

 1 Introduction

 2 Rehabilitating the Historical

 3 The Two Stages of Interpretation: Reconstruction and Mediation

 4 Reconstruction: An Archaeology of Meaning

 5 Mediation

 6 The Inescapable Particularity of Narratives

 7 Rediscovering God

 8 The Teleology of the Sharīʿa

 9 Responding to Criticism

 10 The Ethics of Interpretative Claims

 11 Guarding the Lines between taḥrīf and taʾwīl

 12 Concluding Remarks



6 Truth, Subjectivity, and Method

 1 Introduction

 2 Truth and Spirituality

 3 Subjectivity and Truth

 4 Objectivity and Language

 5 Conclusion



7 Surplus and Futurity of Meaning: The Status of New and Divergent Readings of the Qurʾan

 1 Introduction

 2 The Surplus of Meaning and the Double Significance of Symbols

 3 Excess and Futurity

 4 The Surplus and Futurity of Meaning in Turkish Qurʾan Hermeneutics

 5 Conclusion



8 Final Reflections on the State of Qurʾanic Hermeneutics in Turkey



Bibliography

Index