Documenta Coranica Byzantina (DoCoByz). Byzantino-Islamica in the Age of Digital Humanities

Informations projet

DoCoByz

N° de convention de subvention: 101063466

DOI

10.3030/101063466

Projet clôturé

Date de signature de la CE 15 Juin 2022

Date de début 1 Septembre 2023

Date de fin 31 Juillet 2026

Financé au titre de

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Coût total

Aucune donnée

Contribution de l’UE

€ 276 681,60

Coordonné par

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DoCoByz (Documenta Coranica Byzantina (DoCoByz). Byzantino-Islamica in the Age of Digital Humanities)

Période du rapport: 2023-09-01 au 2025-07-31

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

The DoCoByz project investigates Greek translations of the Qur’an and anti-Islamic discourse in Byzantine polemics. Its main objective is to document and analyze how the Qur’an was transmitted, used, and interpreted in the Byzantine world and how these interpretations shaped Christian-Muslim relations from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. To this end, DoCoByz creates a comprehensive, open-access digital database that systematizes all Greek Qur’anic fragments and their polemical contexts according to philological, thematic, and polemical categories. The project thereby aims to bridge Classical and Digital Humanities and to provide scholars and the wider public with an innovative tool for studying the reception of the Qur’an in Byzantium and beyond.

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

Research has focused on two main areas: the collection, classification, and analysis of Greek Qur’anic fragments; and the systematization of Byzantine anti-Islamic writings containing these fragments. Manuscript research was conducted, and major philological results include preliminary studies for the preparation of critical editions of key Byzantine works. Major achievements include the preparation of a critical edition of a Byzantine polemic containing Qur’anic quotations; the development of a philological framework for distinguishing levels of translation and interpretation; and the establishment of a thematic and polemical classification system for textual analysis. Several scholarly publications have resulted from this work, addressing methodological questions, the significance of Greek Qur’anic translations for comparative Qur’anic studies, and the evolution of Byzantine hermeneutics of the Qur’an within Christian-Muslim polemics. The digital component of the project is currently being implemented. Preparatory work for the TEI XML schema is underway, defining a consistent tagging system that will allow interoperability, reproducibility, and integration into open-access repositories. Training in GitHub and digital humanities tools was completed to ensure proper data management and alignment with FAIR and Open Science standards.

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

DoCoByz advances scholarship beyond the current state of the art by preparing, for the first time, a digital and philologically systematic methodology and corpus of Byzantine Qur’anic material. It establishes a rigorous two-level classification system—Testimonia Coranica Graeca (text fragments) and Episteme Islamica Orthodoxa (their polemical use)—based on innovative TEI XML tagging. This allows for cross-textual and diachronic analysis of how Byzantine authors quoted, interpreted, and re-used the Qur’an across centuries. The project introduces a new methodological framework for studying the intellectual history of Christian-Muslim relations. It enables scholars to test long-standing hypotheses on the evolution of Byzantine anti-Islamic argumentation, re-evaluating concepts such as “originality” and “continuity” within Byzantine polemics. The integration of philological precision, theological interpretation, and digital humanities techniques ensures the reusability of data and enhances interdisciplinary collaboration.