Iconic Books and Texts
This volume is the first comprehensive survey of iconic books and texts tracing their development and influence from ancient to modern times and comparing their roles in multiple cultures and religious traditions. All twenty-two essays are original, cutting-edge contributions to this new academic field with wide appeal to students and scholars across the study of religions, literature, book history, archives and libraries.
Publisher: Equinox Publishing (Indonesia)
Published: United Kingdom, 1 May 2013
Format: Hardcover, 430 pages
Other Information: Illustrated
Dimensions: 24.1 x 16.7 x 3 centimeters (0.87 kg)
Writer: James W. Watts
Table of ContentsJames W. Watts, Introduction Part 1: Categorizing Iconic Books JAMES W. WATTS (Syracuse) The Three Dimensions of Scriptures WILLIAM A. GRAHAM (Harvard) 'Winged Words': Scriptures and Classics as Iconic Texts DEIRDRE C. STAM (Long Island) Talking about 'Iconic Books' in the Terminology of Book History Part 2: Images and Texts DORINA MILLER PARMENTER (Spalding) The Iconic Book; The Image of the Bible in Early Christian Rituals 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: The iconicity of the Page ZE'EV ELITZUR (Ben-Gurion) Between the Textual and the Visual: Borderlines of Late Antique Book Iconicity JACOB KINNARD (Iliff) It is what it is (or is 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 Part 3: 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 Cultural Iconicity of the Bible in the Twilight of Print Culture DORINA MILLER PARMENTER (Spalding) Iconic Books From Below: The Christian Bible and the Discourse of Duct Tape SHAWN LONER (Syracuse) Be-Witching Scripture: The Book of Shadows as Scripture within Wicca/Neopagan Witchcraft Part 4: 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 Part 5: Power & Scholarship KARL IVAN SOLIBAKKE (Syracuse) The Pride and Prejudice of the Western World: Canonic Memory, Great Books and Archive Fever PHILIP P. ARNOLD (Syracuse) Indigenous 'Texts'of Inhabiting the Land: George Washington's Wampum Belt and the Canadaigua Treaty 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 Scholarly Expertise
About the AuthorJames W. Watts is Professor of Religion at Syracuse University and the author of Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Reviews"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