Ninth-Century Arabic Christian Perceptions of ‘Otherness’ under Muslim Rule

Ninth-Century Arabic Christian Perceptions of ‘Otherness’ under Muslim RuleThe Arabist: Budapest Studies in ArabicSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/FPJHYPEP/tei

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.OrsolyaVarsányiNinth-Century Arabic Christian Perceptions of ‘Otherness’ under Muslim Rulehttp://syriaca.org/cbss/FPJHYPEPhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/FPJHYPEPhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/FPJHYPEPThe Arabist: Budapest Studies in Arabic39201893-124This paper demonstrates both in argumentation and terminology, how the cohesion and self-identification of the communities as well as the delineation from others are determined by the understanding of religious belonging. The idea of following the "true religion" was a part of the construction of "us", at the same time, it was a marker of distinction and differentiation from others (what we are not). Religion was also a major factor in the perception of alterity: resulting in separation and opposition, manifesting on the level of the communities pertaining to them. Based on the terminological approach, we could see that the concept of otherness as well as a term indicating it, was not present, however, a set of lexical items, terms, and notions were used to refer to perceptions of difference on multiple levels (religious, linguistic, racial, etc.), as well as they were tools for othering. A whole web of ideas could be identified either in case of the constructions of otherness, or in case of those of belonging. As an outcome of the research, it may be mentioned that this essay addresses the contemporary and increasing debate on the perception of Islam/the Muslim as other. On the one hand, this paper offers data related to an early phase of this perception; on the other, the challenge of the research lies in the geographic area: the Christian authors examined here lived together with Muslims, so the so-called Saidian "oriental other" based on the Western othering is not applicable. Varsányi, Orsolya. “Ninth-Century Arabic Christian Perceptions of ‘Otherness’ under Muslim Rule.” The Arabist: Budapest Studies in Arabic 39 (2018): 93–124. Orsolya Varsányi, Ninth-Century Arabic Christian Perceptions of ‘Otherness’ under Muslim Rule, The Arabist: Budapest Studies in Arabic 39 (2018): 93–124.Ammar al-BasriArab ChristiansIX CEJewish-Christian relationsNestoriansVII-XVIII CEanti-Judaismidentity