Sacred Texts and Print Culture The Case of the Qur'an and the Bible of the Eastern Churches, 18th and 19th Centuries

As the first volume of a new CEU Press series, this book studies the history and hermeneutics of Holy Scriptures when book printing started to in?uence the dissemination of knowledge in the Orthodox-Christian and the Muslim world. The printing of these texts cannot be considered as mere technical innovation of reproduction. Since printing required special knowledge and allowed a much wider circulation, it triggered a debate among the religious elites and in their societies about fundamental dilemmas. Who is allowed to have access to Holy Scriptures? What does it mean that people not belonging to the religious elite will be able to read sacred texts? If a broad circulation is technically feasible, why should not texts in the canon be printed in the language of the people? How does the "production of meaning" of a sacred text change if it is circulated by means of print?