Imagery and Divine Discourse: A Critical Reading of Qur'anic Imagery through Bakhtin's Theories

Abstract

This paper seeks to outline an interdisciplinary reading of imagery in Qur’an by applying Bakhtin’s theories of heteroglossia and dialogism. Utilizing the modalities of literary theory, religious studies and cultural critique, it reveals how the Qur’an’s polyphonic language calls the reader into an active debate with facts of divinity. It also reconsiders the religious narrative and universal themes of spirituality in seventh century Arabia. Using Bakhtinian theory to read the Holy Book, the research sheds light on the ways in which the Qur’an can be read simultaneously through time and space and proposes some new paths for interdisciplinary dialogue between the fields of literature, theology and cultural studies.