Project description
A closer look at Arabic Christianity’s integration
In the rich tapestry of Middle Eastern history, the assimilation of Arabic Christianity within predominantly Islamic societies presents a complex puzzle. At its core lies the challenge of understanding how Arabic-speaking Christians embraced and integrated their religious heritage in a cultural landscape dominated by Islam. Central to this inquiry is the translation of pivotal Christian texts into Arabic, shedding light on the dynamics of cross-cultural exchange and religious synthesis. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CHArT project investigates the translation of these works into Arabic during the 10th-11th centuries. By examining unpublished Arabic renditions of Dionysius’ seminal treatise, the project aims to illuminate the interplay between religious cultures. CHArT employs diverse disciplines like textual criticism and paleography.
Objective
CHArT aims at investigating how Arabic Christianity living in a predominantly Islamic environment assimilated its own foundational religious heritage through a momentous translation process from Greek into Arabic. The case study is chosen among the unpublished Arabic translations of the mysterious Christian theologian known as Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (early 6th century CE), whose entrance in the Arab world in the 10th-11th centuries intertwines with crucial Middle Eastern intellectual milieus. CHArT’s overarching objective consists in charting the assimilation of this author in Arabic, by publishing both the Arabic translations of Pseudo-Dionysius’ influential treatise On Celestial Hierarchy and placing them for the first time into the broader Arabic cultural landscape. The project objectives will be achieved thanks to an interdisciplinary combination of textual criticism, codicology, paleography, as well as disciplines which will shed light on the cultural milieus behind the translations. The project results will open up new fields of research on the Arabic, Byzantine, and Georgian fortune of Pseudo-Dionysius, as well as on possible cross-pollinations between religious cultures within the Islamic world. In turn, this will contribute to the broader goal of reconstructing the history of Christianity in the Middle East and its relationships with Islam.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global FellowshipsCoordinator
35122 Padova
Italy