Seeing History Through Manuscripts
February 4, 2013鈥擜lthough commentary and criticism can become the bulk of academic life, Associate Professor works to let manuscripts speak for themselves.
A professor in the Gannag茅鈥檚 research and teaching focus on Classical Arabic philosophy. 鈥淚n working on the medieval transmission of Greek philosophy into Arabic, my work has focused on the transmission of ideas across time and culture,鈥� she said. Understanding this transmission of knowledge involves two steps: the translation from Greek into Arabic and 鈥渢he transformation of concepts through reception.鈥�
Gannag茅 has studied how Arab philosophers received the ideas of Aristotle and others, and what happened after that transfer of information. 鈥淲hat the Arabs did was not just receiving and transmitting. There was a creative work, which is very interesting,鈥� she continued. Arab philosophers raised new philosophical issues and questions as they learned 鈥渉ow to adapt [Greek philosophy], justify it, and make sense of it within Islamic civilization.鈥�
During her research, Gannag茅 recovered extant fragments of Greek philosopher Alexander of Aphrodisias鈥� commentary on Aristotle鈥檚 On Generation and Corruption. Alexander鈥檚 commentary was thought to be lost in both Greek and Arabic. She uncovered portions of the text in Arabic in a 10th-century alchemical treatise by J膩bir ibn Hayy膩n. 鈥淭he textual important of these recovered fragments for the history of philosophy cannot be overstated,鈥� she explained.
鈥淎t the same time, their textual situation鈥攚ithin a technical treatise on alchemy鈥攃asts bright light onto the workings of the alchemists鈥� research and their exposure to Greek science and philosophy,鈥� she said.
This process of working directly with manuscripts led Gannag茅 to her current area of research, 鈥渢he relationship between medicine and philosophy in the Arabo-Islamic tradition.鈥� In the Middle Ages, medicine was subordinate to the science of physics and based on the four humors, blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. Gannag茅 is exploring the work of Ya鈥榪奴b b. Ish膩q al-Isr膩鈥櫮玪墨 al-Mahall墨鈥攁 Jewish physician who lived in Cairo and Damascus at the turn of the 13th century鈥攁nd 鈥渢he emergence of a theoretical medical epistemology.鈥�
鈥淵a鈥榪奴b b. Ish膩q鈥檚 corpus reveals a deliberate project of theorization鈥攐ne that jeopardizes the radical separation, which has been often highlighted in the case of Arabic medicine, between medicine as a practical art and medical theory,鈥� she explained.
Gannag茅 finds studying such manuscripts to be humbling and sometimes difficult. 鈥淭his kind of work brings with it humbling reminders about the necessity to revisit our preconceptions and received forms of knowledge,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou really learn how to let the text speak and not you. The text always has much more to say than you do.鈥�
As a professor, Gannag茅 introduces primary sources to students in both her undergraduate and graduate courses. 鈥淓ven in a survey course like , in each class, we have a primary source to discuss,鈥� she said. Gannag茅 explains what has been written about the source and then lets students read for themselves. 鈥淚t gives them a first-hand insight into the culture.鈥�
Not only does Gannag茅 enjoy working with manuscripts, she sees the immediate need for formal, published editions in her field. 鈥淲ith time I came to understand that my interest in textual construction and analysis stemmed from a profound sense of urgency driven by the realization that much, if not most, of the materials related to Islamic philosophy and science, still lurks in manuscript form in libraries all over the world,鈥� she explained.
Those manuscripts may just seem like writings and commentaries on philosophy, physics, medicine, and alchemy, but to Gannag茅 they form the history of Islamic philosophy and science.
鈥淲hen edited and published, those manuscripts will certainly force us to rewrite the history of Islamic civilization and thus arrive at a completely different picture from the one we have now.鈥�