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Mystical Islam and Cosmopolitanism in Contemporary German Literature
Openness to Alterity
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2018
About this book
Highlights the spirituality and cosmopolitanism of four contemporary German Muslim writers, showing that they undermine the "clash-of-civilizations" narrative and open up space for new ways of coexisting.
At a time when the place of Muslims in German society is being disputed, this book explores how four contemporary German writers of Muslim backgrounds - Zafer Senocak, SAID, Feridun Zaimoglu, and Navid Kermani - point beyond identity politics and suggest new ways of thinking about religion and community. Twist highlights both the spirituality and the cosmopolitanism of these authors, bringing their thought into dialogue with the work of Jean-Luc Nancy.
Nancy is critical of communities based on a single guiding principle (be it God or Reason) and thus involving a universalizing core that leads to conflicts between identity groups. He proposes alternative notions of both religious faith (a postmonotheistic version with elements of mysticism) and community (spontaneous communities requiring no shared identity). Twist relates these arguments to post-9/11 debates over cosmopolitanism and religion, illuminating how the writers under study draw upon mystical Islam's deconstructive potential, finding divine insight in love, sex, music, pain, and beauty. Such a worldly and affective spirituality dispels associations between Islam and sexual conservatism while rejecting monotheistic ideology. Thus, unlike the homogenizing drive of universalist cosmopolitanism, these writers' nonfoundational conceptualizations undermine the twenty-first century's "clash-of-civilizations" narrative and open up space for new ways of coexisting.
JOSEPH TWIST is Fixed-term Lecturer in German at University College Dublin.
At a time when the place of Muslims in German society is being disputed, this book explores how four contemporary German writers of Muslim backgrounds - Zafer Senocak, SAID, Feridun Zaimoglu, and Navid Kermani - point beyond identity politics and suggest new ways of thinking about religion and community. Twist highlights both the spirituality and the cosmopolitanism of these authors, bringing their thought into dialogue with the work of Jean-Luc Nancy.
Nancy is critical of communities based on a single guiding principle (be it God or Reason) and thus involving a universalizing core that leads to conflicts between identity groups. He proposes alternative notions of both religious faith (a postmonotheistic version with elements of mysticism) and community (spontaneous communities requiring no shared identity). Twist relates these arguments to post-9/11 debates over cosmopolitanism and religion, illuminating how the writers under study draw upon mystical Islam's deconstructive potential, finding divine insight in love, sex, music, pain, and beauty. Such a worldly and affective spirituality dispels associations between Islam and sexual conservatism while rejecting monotheistic ideology. Thus, unlike the homogenizing drive of universalist cosmopolitanism, these writers' nonfoundational conceptualizations undermine the twenty-first century's "clash-of-civilizations" narrative and open up space for new ways of coexisting.
JOSEPH TWIST is Fixed-term Lecturer in German at University College Dublin.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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Preface
ix -
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Introduction: Spirituality, Cosmopolitanism, and Muslim German Writers
1 -
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1: Between Heaven and Earth, and Self and Other: Zafer Şenocak’s Übergang
25 -
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2: Poetry, Prayer, and Apostasy: SAID’s Psalmen
56 -
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3: Romantic Religion and Counter-Enlightenment Cosmopolitanism: Feridun Zaimoglu’s Liebesbrand
78 -
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4: Between Pleasure and Terror: The Divine in Navid Kermani’s Fiction
108 -
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Conclusion: Intellectual, Spiritual, and Cultural Renewal
142 -
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Notes
155 -
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Bibliography
183 -
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Index
197
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 3, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781787441699
Original publisher:
Camden House
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781787441699
Keywords for this book
German Muslim writers; Spirituality; Cosmopolitanism; Alterity; Islam; Religion; Intersubjective; Jean-Luc Nancy; Erotic relationships; Mystic
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
