The Pseudo-historical Image of the Prophet Muhammad in Medieval Latin Literature: A Repertory PDF
Preview The Pseudo-historical Image of the Prophet Muhammad in Medieval Latin Literature: A Repertory
Michelina Di Cesare The Pseudo-Historical Image of the Prophet Muhøammad Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients Beihefte zur Zeitschrift „Der Islam“ Herausgegeben von Lawrence I. Conrad und Benjamin Jokisch Neue Folge Band 26 De Gruyter Michelina Di Cesare The Pseudo-Historical Image ø of the Prophet Muhammad in Medieval Latin Literature: A Repertory De Gruyter ISBN 978-3-11-026382-4 e-ISBN 978-3-11-026383-1 ISSN 1862-1295 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData DiCesare,Michelina. Thepseudo-historicalimageoftheProphetMuhammadinmedieval Latinliterature:arepertory/MichelinaDiCesare. p. cm. (cid:2) (Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-3-11-026382-4(hardcover:alk.paper) 1. Muhammad, Prophet, d. 632 (cid:2) Biography (cid:2) History and criticism. 2.Latinliterature,Medievalandmodern(cid:2)Historyand criticism. 3.Latinliterature,Medievalandmodern(cid:2)Bibliography. 4.Muhammad,Prophet,d.632(cid:2)Inliterature. I.Title. BP75.3.D5 2011 870.810351(cid:2)dc23 2011034957 BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutsche Nationalbibliografie;detailedbibliographicdataareavailableintheInternet athttp://dnb.d-nb.de. ©2012WalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,Berlin/Boston Printingandbinding:Hubert&Co.GmbH&Co.KG,Göttingen (cid:3)Printedonacid-freepaper PrintedinGermany www.degruyter.com Alla mia famiglia Foreword Any previous moment in the stream of time is in fact a vanished mem- ory, a segment of reality that escapes our remembrance of actions, ex- periences,desires,andevenknowledge.Thetaskof anyhistorianmain- ly involves the process of retrieving the past. This scientific exploit could easily be compared to any rescue operation; the historian there- forerescuesthepastthatisthefocusof hisorherstudy.Heorshemain- ly works with written sources, and, complicated and deceitful as they may be, they are the main tool for gaining access to the lost domain of our collective memory. However, any written historical source can- not be mistaken for the past, nor its replacement. Moreover, a literary source cannot function as the ultimate and final point in history or the last remnant of any specific moment in history. It rather acts like the threshold, or even barrier, from which begins the journey into the past. The historian tries to surpass this threshold, to penetrate this barrier of words, in order to reach the realm in which a huge sum of missing information regarding humanity is suspended. The task undertaken by the author of this book is very ambitious. MichelinaDiCesarepresentsuswithavastquantityofmedievalwritten sourcesconcerningthemakingof theimageof theProphetMuhammad ˙ intheMiddleAgesinEurope.Thisbookillustrates theEuropean desire to retrieve Muhammad from the past, and the wish to create for Mu- ˙ hammad a visible, almost tangible image which has both a face and a ˙ body, and the effort to endow him with a coherent, albeit alleged, bi- ography.TheseEuropeanpreoccupationscanallbetracedintheassem- blage of the numerous edited and critically annotated fragments which form the core of this study. The sources chosen here could be compared to the varied and nu- merous sketches that any artist or architect draws in order to capture in visibleformanidea,afantasy,oradream.Yet,theimageof theProphet sketched in these written sources from throughout the Latin West was totally imagined, illustrative of the specific Zeitgeist or even complex psyche of Europe at a specific juncture in time rather than a “true” his- torical image of Muhammad. In fact, the European images of Muham- ˙ ˙ mad bear witness to the multifarious and complicated relationship that VIII Foreword Christendom had, and still has, with Islam. Each European literary image of Muhammad exemplifieshow the Prophet’s image wasmanip- ˙ ulated and maneuvered in order to operate within particular ideological systemsoperativeintheLatinWest.Moreover,theuseandreuseoffor- mersourcesontheimageof Muhammadandtheirintegrationintonew ˙ ideologies is extremely fascinating. These intertextual connections call thereader’sattentiontothelessvisible,andevenunconscious,processes through which Europe built and formed its great “Other.” This book is the result of the research project entitled “Crossing Boundaries, Creating Images: In Search of the Prophet Muhammad in Literary and Visual Traditions,” which is based at the Kunsthistor- isches Institut in Florenz (Max Planck Institute) and aims to explore themultiplewaysinwhichtheProphetMuhammadhasbeendescribed ˙ and depicted in European traditions from the medieval era to the early modern period. The task of collecting, assessing, and analyzing Latin translations of the Qur’a¯n and vitae of the Prophet in Latin and Ro- mance languages was undertaken by the philologist Michelina Di Ce- sare. Other topics of study supported by this project include illustrated European historical and belletristic manuscripts, graphic works, printed books, sculptures, and frescoes, which will be the subject of subsequent publications. Idohopethatthisbookwillcreateasoundinfrastructurefordiscus- sing matters related to the making of the image of the Prophet and of Islam in the West, and will promote further investigation of this rich material. Avinoam Shalem, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, May 2011 Acknowledgments Before leaving the reader to her/his immersion in these extraordinary texts, I want to express my deep gratitude to the Max-Planck-Gesell- shaftforsponsoringmyresearchasapostdoctoralfellowattheKunsthis- torischesInstitutinFlorenz-Max-Planck-Institut;thedirectorof theIn- stitute, Gerhard Wolf; andAvinoam Shalem, thedirector of the project “Crossing Boundaries, Creating Images: In Search of the Prophet Mu- hammadinLiteraryandVisualTraditions,”undertheauspicesof which my work has been realized; and the members of the research group: Heather Coffey, Christiane Gruber, and Alberto Saviello. IwouldalsoliketothanktheIstitutoItalianopergliStudiStoriciin Naples for supporting the final stage of this work, the publisher De- Gruyterfor welcoming thisbookin itsSeries of Studien zurGeschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients. I am also deeply grateful to Jonathan Fox, who assisted me patiently in formulating my ideas in clear English and in giving a harmonious shape to this volume. MycolleaguesandfriendsinFlorenceandNaples,mymentorMaria Vittoria Fontana, my teacher Marina Passalacqua, Father Emilio Panella O.P., Gian Luca Potestà, all the scholars I met during the conference held in Florence in July 2009 and in Barcelona in September 2009, the many kind librarians who assisted me, my family: I thank all of them for the encouragement, suggestions, help, and joy they gave me during the preparation of this work.
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