System and Muhammadan Religion by Sofroniy Vrachanski: The Bulgarian Translation of Dimitrie Cantemir’s Kniga Sistima
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Nadezhda Alexandrova
Abstract
This essay will present the insertions and omissions made by the Bulgarian bishop Sofroniy Vrachanski in his translation practice based on his 1805 Bulgarian translation of Dimitrie Cantemir’s treatise The System or the Structure of Mohammadan Religion (St. Petersburg, 1722). In its first part I will present the translation and the biography of Sofroniy of Vratsa (Vrachanski) by searching for biographical equivalences and parallels between the original author and his Bulgarian translator. Basing my argument on their biographical and ideological background, I will explain their common arguments about refuting the Qur’ān as a book fabricated by a false prophet. In order to distinguish the motivation of Sofroniy’s translation strategy, in my essay I will reflect on the language and composition, contents and sense of authorship on the part of the translator. Finally, I will link the Bulgarian translation with another important work in Sofroniy Vrachanski’s career - his own autobiography, standing next to his translation of Cantemir’s treatise in the same codex. In its turn, this original text resonates with Cantemir’s Kniga sistima, especially regarding Ottoman Muslims and their interactions with Christians.
Abstract
This essay will present the insertions and omissions made by the Bulgarian bishop Sofroniy Vrachanski in his translation practice based on his 1805 Bulgarian translation of Dimitrie Cantemir’s treatise The System or the Structure of Mohammadan Religion (St. Petersburg, 1722). In its first part I will present the translation and the biography of Sofroniy of Vratsa (Vrachanski) by searching for biographical equivalences and parallels between the original author and his Bulgarian translator. Basing my argument on their biographical and ideological background, I will explain their common arguments about refuting the Qur’ān as a book fabricated by a false prophet. In order to distinguish the motivation of Sofroniy’s translation strategy, in my essay I will reflect on the language and composition, contents and sense of authorship on the part of the translator. Finally, I will link the Bulgarian translation with another important work in Sofroniy Vrachanski’s career - his own autobiography, standing next to his translation of Cantemir’s treatise in the same codex. In its turn, this original text resonates with Cantemir’s Kniga sistima, especially regarding Ottoman Muslims and their interactions with Christians.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Abbreviations IX
- Prolegomena to Eastern Christians’ Engagement with Islam and the Qur’ān 1
- An Early Syriac Response to the Charge of Taḥrīf in George of Bʿeltan’s Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew 7
- Qur’ānic Letter versus Spirit: Approaches to the Qur’ān in Kitāb Usṭāt al-rāhib and Masāʾil wa-ajwiba ʿaqliyya wa-ilāhiyya 45
- “Becoming All Things to All People”: Positive Readings of Qur’ānic Christianity in Arabic Christian Apologetics 77
- Continuities and Discontinuities in Byzantine Anti-Islamic Polemics from the Seventh to the Thirteenth Century: The Mount Athos, Great Lavra, MS gr. Ω 44 101
- Michael Synkellos and His Lost Refutation of Islam in the Medieval Byzantine-Slavic Literary Tradition 125
- The Qur’ān in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Qur’ān: Textual Connections and Circulation among Muslims and Christians of al-Ḥabasha 153
- The Armenian Confutatio Alcorani and Its Polemical Function for the Armenian Communities in Pre-Modern Iran 173
- Anti-Islamic Polemics, Scholarship and Encyclopedism in the Greek Orthodox World: Nicholas Karatzas and His Summa Saracenica 201
- System and Muhammadan Religion by Sofroniy Vrachanski: The Bulgarian Translation of Dimitrie Cantemir’s Kniga Sistima 251
- Russian Orthodox Qur’ān Translations of the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth Century and Tatar-Muslim Responses 277
- Epilogue: Christian Reading of the Qur’ān in the Islamic World 309
- List of Contributors 317
- Index of Manuscripts and Prints 321
- Index 325
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Abbreviations IX
- Prolegomena to Eastern Christians’ Engagement with Islam and the Qur’ān 1
- An Early Syriac Response to the Charge of Taḥrīf in George of Bʿeltan’s Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew 7
- Qur’ānic Letter versus Spirit: Approaches to the Qur’ān in Kitāb Usṭāt al-rāhib and Masāʾil wa-ajwiba ʿaqliyya wa-ilāhiyya 45
- “Becoming All Things to All People”: Positive Readings of Qur’ānic Christianity in Arabic Christian Apologetics 77
- Continuities and Discontinuities in Byzantine Anti-Islamic Polemics from the Seventh to the Thirteenth Century: The Mount Athos, Great Lavra, MS gr. Ω 44 101
- Michael Synkellos and His Lost Refutation of Islam in the Medieval Byzantine-Slavic Literary Tradition 125
- The Qur’ān in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Qur’ān: Textual Connections and Circulation among Muslims and Christians of al-Ḥabasha 153
- The Armenian Confutatio Alcorani and Its Polemical Function for the Armenian Communities in Pre-Modern Iran 173
- Anti-Islamic Polemics, Scholarship and Encyclopedism in the Greek Orthodox World: Nicholas Karatzas and His Summa Saracenica 201
- System and Muhammadan Religion by Sofroniy Vrachanski: The Bulgarian Translation of Dimitrie Cantemir’s Kniga Sistima 251
- Russian Orthodox Qur’ān Translations of the Eighteenth- and Nineteenth Century and Tatar-Muslim Responses 277
- Epilogue: Christian Reading of the Qur’ān in the Islamic World 309
- List of Contributors 317
- Index of Manuscripts and Prints 321
- Index 325
