Llull’s Islamic scholarship attracted readers uninterested in Islam

Evidence

It would be easy to write off Llull, this phantasticus, as a quirky footnote in the development of Christian images of Islam: Llull, despite occasional success at getting the ear of a Pope or king, is largely a lonely outsider, while Dominicans such as Penyafort, Martí, and Aquinas are among the key shapers of church policy and orthodox theology. Llull’s works indeed attracted a small and devoted group of followers, “Llullists,” over the following centuries, most notably among fourteenth-century Parisian academics and fifteenth-century Italian humanists. Yet these readers in general were interested in Llull’s systematic approach to knowledge and not directly in Islam. Conversely, those who were interested in Islam did not read Llull, preferring works such as Petrus Alfonsi’s Dialogues, Riccoldo’s Libellus contra legem Saracenorum, or Robert of Ketton’s translation of the Koran. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1352 (#expands, via linked claim)

But Frye’s model makes clear that the authority of mythological systems is based on their endorsement by a situated tradition: “Belief, I am saying, is essentially a form of attachment to a community: in other words belief is also primarily social in reference.” This encapsulates the challenge for Aboulela as a diasporic subject and a Muslim addressing an audience and a literary community that for the most part will not share her beliefs. She is attempting to articulate a mythic tradition perceived to be different to that of its recipients, thereby running the risk of exoticism or dismissal. … However, it is precisely the anthropological desire for a “different” spokesperson, an authentic Other who will take us inside the devout Muslim’s experiences—a mode of reading with which Aboulela chooses deliberately to conciliate—that will result in such commonalities being downplayed or overlooked. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 504 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Llull’s Islamic-mission writings were widely ignored by Islam scholars; Llull’s readers valued his method, not his Islam mission — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1352; Appealing to readers’ craving for authentic Muslim ‘Otherness’ erases cross-cultural narrative commonalities. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 504 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Llull’s readers valued his method, not his Islam mission #expands (0.92) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1352
• Appealing to readers’ craving for authentic Muslim ‘Otherness’ erases cross-cultural narrative commonalities. #complicates (0.72) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 504