Towards a sociology of Islamic texts

Abstract

A number of terms and concepts such as text, textuality and discourse have been contributing to various fields of social sciences thanks to several theoretical and methodological developments in anthropology and linguistics. One of the major aspects of such developments especially in hermeneutical approaches in anthropology is the enrichment of our notions of interpretation through analyses of non-western interpretive genres. Besides, such developments have also contributed towards recognizing the significance of notion of textuality in text-based cultural or religious traditions and towards identifying different genres of religious texts derived of different social backgrounds or complex social processes. It has been suggested that while dealing with the texts of a particular tradition, one may look into the socio-cultural encounter between text and its recipients, the institutional and ideological aspects of transmission of the texts, the level of interpretations, the discursive developments in construction of meaning, and so on. My attempt in this paper would be to problematise the concepts of texts and textuality in the day-to-day Muslim social life and to identify the role of structure and agency in the production and circulation of different genres of Islamic texts. The paper would argue that a clear understanding of the notion of textuality and the relationship between the texts and practices in the various contexts may resolve much of the issues long debated in the field of Sociology of Islam regarding the relationship between what is often termed as Folk and Elite Islam or Little and Great Tradition of Islam