Islam in Armenian Literary Culture: Texts, Contexts, Dynamics

The Armenians' perspectives on and perceptions of Islam are some of the earliest and integral parts of Near Eastern interactive history, yet the subject remains in virtual obscurity. A novel and extensive study, Islam in Armenian Literary Culture. Texts, Context, Dynamics is a maiden voyage into this unchartered territory and an overdue task in regional, Armenian and Interfaith studies. In view of the broad temporal and thematic peripheries, multiple aspects and complicated problematics, primarily Armenian texts - such as hitherto unknown manuscripts and/or indirectly familiar literature - are given high priority and cited. They are analyzed in their social, cultural and political contexts in dynamic processes. For greater clarity and ease of navigation, the book is organized around three main themes: the Armenian Mahmet, the Armenian Ghurans, and the Armenian Pax Islamica, from the seventh to the twenty-first centuries. These are also arguments, tools of analysis and major chapters in the book.