Religious Perspectives in Modern Muslim and Jewish Literatures [Paperback]

This collection brings together discussions of the way in which Muslim and Jewish beliefs and practices are represented in modern literary texts of poetry, fiction and drama. The chapters collected here consider elements of the expression of Judaism and Islam in modern literature. Key topics such as religious ideas and teachings, aspects of mysticism, the tenets of religion, uses made of sacred texts, religion and popular culture and reflections of religious controversies are covered. While there is an embodied comparative element to the chapters, the essays are not confined by comparisons and cover a wide range of the literary expression of religious issues.

1. Urdu Poetry as a Vehicle for Islamic Re-Expression  2. 'Bless each day that passes': The Search for Religious Faith in the Poetry of Ittamar Yaoz-Kest  3. Paths to God Within the Poet: Necip Fazil Kisak?rek and his Mystical Poetry  4. 'Merciful Father Abraham: The Mystical Poetry of Benjamin Shvili  5. Moral Education through Islamic Songs in Twentieth-Century Java  6. 'Together with the shell, they have thrown away the kernel': Aharon Halle Wolfssohn's Critique of Judaism  7. The Uzbek Short Story Writer Fitrat's Adaptation of Religious Traditions  8. Kulturkampf in the Israeli Theatre: The Issue of Religion  9. Religion in Contemporary Persian Prose  10. Martyrdom and Gender in American Jewish Culture  11. A 'Cinderella' Goes to Hausaland: Islam, Gender and Hausa Literature  12. Rachel Morpurgo in the Context of Jewish Emancipation in Italy  13. Modern Arabic Literature and the Qur'an: Inimitability, Creatvity,...Incompatibility  14. Avraham Goldfaden's Theatre of Jewishness: Three Prooftexts  15. Transcending the Boundaries of Islam: Writtten Swahili Literature in the Twentieth Century  16. Between Eros and Dios: Leopoldo Azancot's Novia Judia