Narratives of knowledge in Islamic societies: What do they tell us about scholars and their contexts?

Abstract

Current history of science, including cartography and geography, in Islamic societies has lost its mainstream status that it occupied some decades ago. The major reason for this unfortunate development is the change of what constitutes mainstream today in comparison to the past. Mainstream history of science in other than Islamic societies is much more focused on the study of the sciences in culture than on the study of the content of scientific texts or instruments alone. Moreover, numerous of its representatives apply various theory-based approaches and methods taken from other humanities and other fields of the historical sciences. Historians of science in Islamic societies have refused to engage in a productive manner with these newer developments and hence have found themselves marginalized with high costs for subsequent generations in the field. Some newer developments in the US indicate that younger scholars have taken up the challenge. It is, however, too early to judge whether this will lead to a renewed recovery of mainstream positions. On the other hand, mainstream history of science in other than Islamic societies is plagued by problems caused by its shiſt to new grazing grounds. In many cases, the specialized training as historians of science has caused a loss of qualification characteristic for previous generations in the field - a more than fleeting familiarity with at least one of the sciences and a knowledge of more than their native language/s. Some of this equally unfortunate development has caught on in history of science in Islamic societies with the worrisome result of an empty rhetoric. Hence, for me this new rhetorical kind of history of science holds little promise. I am more attracted by the challenge of the first generation of colleagues who made context, culture and theory mainstream in history of science. I think history of science in Islamic societies has still to go a very long way to reach their level of skills and sophisticated insights. The subject of my talk to the workshop on how to become mainstream was chosen to discuss one of the many possibilities to advance on that road. Hence my paper will offer some observations and reflections on narratives of knowledge in Islamic societies and possibilities for uncovering what they meant for their narrators and their audiences.