This author delves into the rethinking and remapping of past events, aiming to extract a new, tentative picture that is necessarily more complex and ambiguous than any master-narrative. By "brushing history against the grain," as Walter Benjamin suggested, their work offers a radically different perspective on historical events. This approach uncovers new virtual possibilities capable of transforming both the present and the future. Ultimately, their scholarship seeks to help us become different by re-imagining the very premises of our identities.
Ontology and Modal Philosophy in Guattari's Major Writings
319 pages
12 hours of reading
The book presents a compelling argument for the significant impact of a philosopher on ontology and modal philosophy. Through a collection of texts, it explores the philosopher's original ideas and their lasting influence on contemporary thought. The analysis delves into key concepts and theories, highlighting the evolution of philosophical discourse and the implications for understanding existence and possibility. This work serves as both a critical examination and a tribute to the philosopher's enduring legacy in these fields.
A Study of Intertextuality and Religious Identity Formation in Late Antiquity
170 pages
6 hours of reading
Still in its infancy because of the overly conservative views and methods
assumed by the majority of scholars working in it since the mid-19th century,
the field of early Islamic and quranic studies is one in which the very basic
questions must nowadays be addressed with decision. Accordingly, this book
tries to resituate the Qur'an at the crossroads of the conversations of old,
to which its parabiblical narratives witness, and explores how Muhammad's
image - which was apparently modelled after that of the anonymous prophet
repeatedly alluded to in the Qur'an - originally matched that of other
prophets and/or charismatic figures distinctive in the late-antique sectarian
milieu out of which Islam gradually emerged. Moreover, it contends that the
Quranic Noah narratives provide a first-hand window into the making of
Muhammad as an eschatological prophet and further examines their form,
content, purpose, and sources as a means of deciphering the scribal and
intertextual nature of the Qur'a n as well as the Jewish-Christian background
of the messianic controversy that gave birth to the new Arab religion. The
previously neglected view that Muhammad was once tentatively thought of as a
new Messiah challenges our common understanding of Islam's origins.
