La Rhétorique Coranique et Sémitique Son Histoire, Sa Théorie

Abstract

Quranic and Semitic Rhetorics Its History and Theory

The article is a review of nearly thirty years of research on the composition of the Qur’anic text using the techniques of Semitic rhetoric. In recent years, the latter term has spread in Qur’anic studies, eliciting various reactions. Therefore, its origin and exact meaning are first explained. A first part then traces its history, first in the biblical exegesis from which it came, then in the Qur’anic exegesis, ancient and modern (around the concept of naẓm al-Qur’ān), and finally, in recent scientific studies. The second part is a theoretical presentation, based on the pioneering work of the biblical scholar Roland Meynet, adapted to the specificities of Qur’anic rhetoric itself. We first explain its two general characteristics: binarity and parataxis, then the different textual levels to be distinguished, and finally the three basic figures of composition: parallelism, concentric composition and specular composition. Each step of the presentation is illustrated by Qur’anic examples, taken mainly from the Fātiḥa. The conclusion opens up a prospect of research of the same Semitic rhetoric in languages of the ancient Middle East other than (Biblical) Hebrew or (Qur’anic) Arabic: Akkadian, Ugaritic and Pharaonic.