What connects Shiite passion plays with Brecht s drama? Which of Goethe s poems were inspired by the Quran? How can Ibn Arabi s theology of sighs explain the plays of Heinrich von Kleist? And why did the Persian author Sadeq Hedayat identify with the Prague Jew Franz Kafka?

One who knows himself and others will here too understand: Orient and Occident are no longer separable : in this new book, the critically acclaimed author and scholar Navid Kermani takes Goethe at his word. He reads the Quran as a poetic text, opens Eastern literature to Western readers, unveils the mystical dimension in the works of Goethe and Kleist, and deciphers the political implications of theatre, from Shakespeare to Lessing to Brecht. Drawing striking comparisons between diverse literary traditions and cultures, Kermani argues for a literary cosmopolitanism that is opposed to all those who would play religions and cultures against one another, isolating them from one another by force. Between Quran and Kafka concludes with Kermani s speech on receiving Germany s highest literary prize, an impassioned plea for greater fraternity in the face of the tyranny and terrorism of Islamic State.

Kermani s personal assimilation of the classics gives his work that topical urgency that distinguishes universal literature when it speaks to our most intimate feelings. For, of course, love too lies between Quran and Kafkä.

Autorentext
Navid Kermani is a writer and Islamic scholar who lives in Cologne, Germany. He has received numerous accolades for his literary and academic work, including the 2015 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Germany?s most prestigious cultural award.

Klappentext

What connects Shiite passion plays with Brecht s drama? Which of Goethe s poems were inspired by the Quran? How can Ibn Arabi s theology of sighs explain the plays of Heinrich von Kleist? And why did the Persian author Sadeq Hedayat identify with the Prague Jew Franz Kafka? One who knows himself and others will here too understand: Orient and Occident are no longer separable : in this new book, the critically acclaimed author and scholar Navid Kermani takes Goethe at his word. He reads the Quran as a poetic text, opens Eastern literature to Western readers, unveils the mystical dimension in the works of Goethe and Kleist, and deciphers the political implications of theatre, from Shakespeare to Lessing to Brecht. Drawing striking comparisons between diverse literary traditions and cultures, Kermani argues for a literary cosmopolitanism that is opposed to all those who would play religions and cultures against one another, isolating them from one another by force. Between Quran and Kafka concludes with Kermani s speech on receiving Germany s highest literary prize, an impassioned plea for greater fraternity in the face of the tyranny and terrorism of Islamic State. Kermani s personal assimilation of the classics gives his work that topical urgency that distinguishes universal literature when it speaks to our most intimate feelings. For, of course, love too lies between Quran and Kafka .

Zusammenfassung

What connects Shiite passion plays with Brecht's drama? Which of Goethe's poems were inspired by the Quran? How can Ibn Arabi's theology of sighs explain the plays of Heinrich von Kleist? And why did the Persian author Sadeq Hedayat identify with the Prague Jew Franz Kafka?

'One who knows himself and others will here too understand: Orient and Occident are no longer separable': in this new book, the critically acclaimed author and scholar Navid Kermani takes Goethe at his word. He reads the Quran as a poetic text, opens Eastern literature to Western readers, unveils the mystical dimension in the works of Goethe and Kleist, and deciphers the political implications of theatre, from Shakespeare to Lessing to Brecht. Drawing striking comparisons between diverse literary traditions and cultures, Kermani argues for a literary cosmopolitanism that is opposed to all those who would play religions and cultures against one another, isolating them from one another by force. Between Quran and Kafka concludes with Kermani's speech on receiving Germany's highest literary prize, an impassioned plea for greater fraternity in the face of the tyranny and terrorism of Islamic State.

Kermani's personal assimilation of the classics gives his work that topical urgency that distinguishes universal literature when it speaks to our most intimate feelings. For, of course, love too lies 'between Quran and Kafka'.

Inhalt

Contents
A Personal Note

1. Don't Follow the Poets!
   The Quran and Poetry
2. Revolt against God
   Attar and Suffering
3. World without God
   Shakespeare and Man
4. Heroic Weakness
   Lessing and Terror
5. God Breathing
   Goethe and Religion
6. Filth of My Soul
   Kleist and Love
7. The Truth of Theatre
   The Shiite Passion Play and Alienation
8. Liberate Bayreuth!
   Wagner and Empathy
9. Swimming in the Afternoon
   Kafka and Germany
10. The Purpose of Literature
    Hedayat and Kafka
11. For Europe
    Zweig and the Borders
12. In Defence of the Glass Bead Game
    Hesse and Decadence
13. The Violence of Compassion
    Arendt and Revolution
14. Tilting at Windmills
    Mosebach and the Novel
15. One God, One Wife, One Cheese
    Golshiri and Friendship
16. Chant the Quran Singingly
    Neuwirth and Literalist Orthodoxy
    Appendix
    On the 65th Anniversary of the Promulgation of the German Constitution
    Speech to the Bundestag, Berlin, May 23, 2014
    On Receiving the Peace Prize of the German Publishers' Association
    Speech in St Paul's Church, Frankfurt am Main, October 18, 2015
    About the Text
    Index