Communication: a Neglected Paradigm in the Study of Christian–Muslim Relations (7th–16th Cent.)

Abstract

Communication as a paradigm of analysis has so far been neglected in the study of historical relations between Christians and Muslims. Part One demonstrates that previous forms of conceptualizing these relations fail to grasp the wide range of possible forms of interaction. It presents more differentiated recent approaches and points to the problems that still need solving. Part Two proposes a typology of different kinds of primary evidence that allow us to gain a more profound understanding of how interreligious communication is documented and which conclusions we may derive from this documentation. Part Three discusses methods of using such evidence to produce a greater picture of historical Christian–Muslim relations from the perspective of the communicative paradigm. It concludes that cooperation between specialists on different (e.g. diplomatic, economic, social, intellectual) facets of interreligious relations is necessary to formulate new macro-historical models that consider both the synchronic diversity of communicative acts and settings, as well as the diachronic evolution of larger communicative constellations in reaction to greater political, economic, social, and ideological changes.