Abstract
“Odysseus’ Scar” is the first chapter of Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (1946) by Erich Auerbach (1892–1957). In this chapter Auerbach delineates two narrative styles, the Homeric and the biblical, the latter based on the Hebrew scriptures and specifically the book of Genesis, which he sees as fundamental for the subsequent development of European literature. The claim has been made that Auerbach’s essay enables us to “see features of the Bible that would be virtually impossible to detect did we not know the Odyssey.” What would the comparison do for the Qurʾan? “Odysseus’ Scar” enables us to perceive a “monotheist style” shared by the Qurʾan and Hebrew Bible, and to note how in both texts, the literary features are inseparable from the theological message. To read the Qurʾan in light of the rest of Auerbach’s Mimesis, however, takes us in a different direction, in which we notice how the Qurʾan’s strong theocentrism is at odds with the tragic view of existence put forth by Christianity and Western literary culture in general.
Published Version
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