Iconic Books and Texts

Images of books appear in art, advertising and commercial logos to symbolize learning, knowledge and wisdom. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. Such images and rituals utilize the iconic dimension of texts. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of iconic books and texts. It traces their development and influence from ancient to modern times and compares their roles in multiple cultures and religious traditions. The twenty-two essays presented here are original, cutting-edge contributions to this new academic field, and will appeal to students and scholars across the study of religions, literature, book history, archives and libraries.

Images of books appear in art, advertising and commercial logos to symbolize learning, knowledge and wisdom. In religious and secular rituals around the globe, people carry, show, wave, touch and kiss books and other texts, as well as read them. Such images and rituals utilize the iconic dimension of texts. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of iconic books and texts. It traces their development and influence from ancient to modern times and compares their roles in multiple cultures and religious traditions. The twenty-two essays presented here are original, cutting-edge contributions to this new academic field, and will appeal to students and scholars across the study of religions, literature, book history, archives and libraries.

James W. Watts, Introduction I. Categorizing Iconic Books JAMES W. WATTS (Syracuse) The Three Dimensions of Scriptures" WILLIAM A. GRAHAM (Harvard) 'Winged Words': Scriptures and Classics and Religious and Cultural Icons DEIRDRE C. STAM (Long Island) "Talking about 'Iconic Books' in the Terminology of Book History" II. Images & Texts DORINA MILLER PARMENTER (Spalding) "The Iconic Book" MICHELLE BROWN (London) Images to be Read and Words to be Seen: the Iconic Role of the Early Medieval Book S. BRENT PLATE (Hamilton) "Looking at Words: On the Typography and Design of Book Pages" ZE'EV ELITZUR (Ben-Gurion) "Between the Textual and the Visual: Borderlines of Late Antique Book Iconicity" JACOB KINNARD (Iliff) "Why is it Better to See a Book than Read it? Further Reflections on the Buddhist Representation of Manuscripts" M. PATRICK GRAHAM (Emory) "The Tell-Tale Iconic Book: The Hermeneutics of 16th Century Biblical Illustrations" III. Materials & Markets NATALIA SUIT (UNC Chapel Hill) "Mushaf and the Material Boundaries of the Qur'an" TIMOTHY BEAL (Case Western) "The End of the Word as We Know It: the Marketing of 21st Century Bibles" DORINA MILLER PARMENTER (Spalding) "Iconic Books From Below: Ritual Uses of the Christian Bible" SHAWN KRAUSE-LONER (Syracuse) "Be-Witching Scripture: The Book of Shadows as Scripture within Wicca/Neopagan Witchcraft" IV. Book Rituals KRISTINA MYRVOLD (Lund) "Engaging with the Guru: Sikh Beliefs and Practices of Guru Granth Sahib" JOANNE PUNZO WAGHORNE (Syracuse) "A Birthday Party for a Sacred Scripture: The Gita Jayanti and the Embodiment of God as the Book" YOHAN YOO (Seoul) "Possession and Repetition: Ways in which Korean Lay Buddhists Appropriate Scriptures" BRIAN MALLEY (Michigan) "The Bible in British Folklore" V. Power & Scholarship KARL SOLIBAKKE (Syracuse) "Origins of the Great Books Series" PHILIP P. ARNOLD (Syracuse) "Texts and the Conquest of Indigenous Lands" JASON LARSON (Bates) "The Gospels as Imperialized Sites of Memory in Late Ancient Christianity" CLAUDIA CAMP (TCU) "Possessing the Iconic Book: Ben Sira as Case Study" JAMES W. WATTS (Syracuse) "Ancient Iconic Texts and the History of Scholarly Expertise"

• Edited by James W Watts

"Together the 22 essays in this volume creatively and effectively draw together different historical epochs, varied religious and cultural traditions and ritual practices, and diverse scholarly methodologies to create a finely woven tapestry depicting the enduring, transcultural, and mutually supportive significances of iconic books and texts. In addition to giving these previously published essays a wider audience, this collection will help foster meaningful cross-disciplinary conversation between readers interested in all aspects of the history of the book." SHARP News "...Iconic Books and Texts is a compelling and provocative study. For those already interested in the nontextual dimensions of religious experience and practice, this volume will be a welcome addition to the scholarly literature. For more traditional textualists, this volume offers a corrective to the logocentric tendencies in religious (and especially biblical) studies by highlighting the role of sacred texts as artifacts of material and visual culture. The research presented here is rigorous but accessible. Individual essays or the book as a whole would enrich a variety of undergraduate and masters-level courses." --Ryan P. Bonfiglio, Columbia Theological Seminary, Review of Biblical Literature 10.23.16 "...I highly recommend this volume to those interested in reflecting on the value of the Qur'an both today and in the past through cross-cultural comparison and new perspectives." --Andrew Rippin, University of Victoria and Institute of Ismaili Studies, Journal of Qur'anic Studies Vol 18(2), 2016
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