The Jāḥiẓian Library Under Attack
The Jāḥiẓian Library Under Attack
Not all of his contemporaries agreed or approved of the enterprise. The Book of Living was subjected to a withering criticism that extended beyond its contents to engulf most of his public writings and become a categorical rejection of the benefits which the book as an artefact brought to society. Al-Jā?i? reverts throughout The Book of Living to this criticism. The initial 200 pages of the first volume (in its modern edited version) constitute its Introduction and engage specifically with the attack the first version of the book generated. Chapter 3 provides an in-depth study of the library of books itemised by al-Jā?i? in his defence of his enterprise. It follows the details of the critique by offering a translation and paraphrase, with commentary, of the passages which engage explicitly with the criticism.
Keywords: Inventory of writings of al-Jāḥẓ, Translation, Commentary, Analysis of strategies of argumentation used by al-Jāḥẓ
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