Islamic Studies of Orientalists

Islamic Studies of Orientalists

Analysis of Angelika Neuwirth’s reading of the Quranic paradise in light of Wolfgang Iser’s reader-response theory

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Abstract
The present research is based on the belief that the theoretical concepts proposed by Wolfgang Iser in the “Reader Response” theory provide a valuable analytical tool for examining the Quranic text and interpretive texts from a novel perspective. While focusing on the interaction process between the text and the reader, this theory emphasizes the importance of the “indeterminate spaces” within the text in the dynamics of this interaction and explores how these spaces are completed by the reader during the reading process. Accordingly, this study, centering on Surah Al-Rahman, which, with its distinctive structure, has high potential for research, first identifies the indeterminate spaces of Paradise. Then, considering the German orientalist Angelica Neuwirth as one of the readers of the surah, it investigates how she interacts with these spaces. In her Quranic studies, Neuwirth treats each surah as a cohesive literary unit, aiming to present a new interpretive reading of the surah. The goal of this research is to offer a novel perspective for examining the Quranic text and analyzing interpretive texts. The study demonstrates that Neuwirth, in her reading of this surah, seeks to complete the existing indeterminate spaces by utilizing information from previous religious texts and her own analyses of pre-Islamic poetry.
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Volume 4, Issue 7 - Serial Number 7
August 2025
Pages 127-148

  • Receive Date 07 October 2024
  • Revise Date 23 July 2025
  • Accept Date 03 June 2025