Intertextuality in Orientalists’ Discourses: A Critical DiscourseAnalysis of Watt’s Concept of Revelation

Abstract

For the last many centuries Islam has been discursively represented in the Orientalist discourses. These discourses are intertextually welllinked and share the same epistemological grounds. So, the broader focus of this study is to explore the linguistic modes, discursive strategies and intertextuality of the Orientalists’ discourses representing the Muslim Meta- narrative about the revelation of the Holy Qur’an. The data is selected through purposive sampling technique from Montgomery Watt’s books “Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman” and “Muhammad at Mecca”. For critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the data, Fairclough’s (1989, 1993) three-dimensional model is used as a theoretical framework. Insights from the works of Kristeva (1980) and Bakhtin (1973, 1981) have also been incorporated for intertextual study. This study foregrounds that the Orientalists’ discourses are highly intertextual and Watt’s perspective about the revelation of the Holy Qur’an is intertextually embedded in the Orientalists’ Meta- narrative, which challenges its Divine nature. Watt discursively structures his narrative, which in fact is the sophisticated sequel of the Orientalists’ discourses about Islam. This study helps the readers to analyse how the Orientalists’ discourses intertextually construct and reinforce their stereotypical stance about the divine nature of the revelation.