Re-hearing Quran in Open Translation: Ta’wil, Postmodern Inquiry and a Hermeneutics of Indeterminacy

This paper uses hermeneutical and comparative methods to explore the similarities among an esoteric Quranic interpretative tradition, modern attempts to render the Quran in open poetic forms, and post-modern inquiry strategies. Classical Ismaili and Sufi scholars posited an “inner ” hermeneutic called ta)wi!l, which allowed for multi-valent, non-literal interpretations of the Quranic text (Schimmel 1994, Daftary 1999). Parallels to both ta)wi!l and recent attempts to render the Quran through Western poetic forms can be found in the postmodern “new paradigm ” social science research models of Torbert, Reason and Rowan (1981). The dialogue between ancient hermeneutics and postmodern inquiry suggests the development of a poetic “hermeneutic of indeterminacy ” when dealing with Quranic texts in Western language translation. Such a hermeneutic would explore the boundaries of text, receptor-hearer, and the inter-subjective phenomenology of interpretation in order to see and hear Islam with Western eyes and ears in a more complex way. This paper uses hermeneutical and comparative methods to explore th