Perspectives ecdotiques pour textes en moyen arabe : L’exemple des traités théologiques de Sulaymān al-Ġazzī

Abstract

PersPectives ecdotiques Pour textes en moyen arabe : l'exemPle des traitÉs thÉologiques de sulaymān al-ĠazzĪ 1 Paolo la spisa J'ai essayé de faire ici pour la langue française ce que ferait un architecte qui voudrait reconstruire sur le papier Saint-Germain des Prés tel que l'admira le xi e siècle. gaston Paris Summary: this article briefly exposes the methodological problems that an editor has to resolve to produce a critical edition of written middle arabic texts. usually, the editors not only often fail to take into account all of the manuscript witnesses, but they also tend to correct the middle arabic features, regarding them as errors made by illiterate copyists. in this respect, it is possible to distinguish two different schools of editing arabic texts: one is in favour of a semi-diplomatic edition, while the second adopts an interventionist method that does not take into account the relationships between witnesses from a genealogical point of view. this paper highlights that even for written middle arabic texts, the methodological distinction that is nowadays applied in romance philology between 'criticism of forms' and 'criticism of variants' is a possible solution to overcoming the apparent impasse between a blind fidelity to a chosen witness and changing both forms and variants by creating an eclectic text. to achieve this, the author took some examples from the manuscript tradition of sulaymān al-Ġazzī's theological treatises (xth-xith centuries). in a critical approach, this contribution intends to stimulate the scientific debate on the issues raised by the neo-lachmannian method. account is taken of the facts that interpretation is an essential phase of textual criticism work and that the mechanical nature of a stemma must always be accompanied by a sound knowledge of the history of the manuscript tradition, bearing in mind that 'each case is unique'.