“The Culture of Ambiguity”

A Review of: Bauer, Th. Kultura neodnoznachnosti i pluralizma: k drugomu obrazu islama [A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam]. Moscow, Berlin: Direct Media publ., 2020, 400 pp. (Russian Translation)

Abstract

The review considers the monograph of the German philosopher, culturologist and orientalist, professor at Wilhelm University of Westphalia Thomas Bauer “A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam” (2011; Russian translation — 2020). As the reviewers note, Bauer managed to describe the cultural resource of the classical Arab-Muslim civilization, founded on the principle of ambiguity (Ambiguität). Ambiguity, being the principle of constructing Arabic discourse, organized the structure of Islamic law, Muslim theology, and even the social body of the ummah in a special way. In contrast to the classical one, modern Arab culture, the German scientist argues, is catastrophically dependent on the atomistic principle of unambiguity, adopted by it from European modernity era. Finally, Bauer positively assesses the reserve of “tolerance” of the Arab civilization and contrasts it with modern radical currents, in their own way attempting to “reform” the historical ethos of Muslim thought.