Representación de movimiento en el tratamiento del dolor

– Do not omit the preliminary work of clarifi cation of vocabulary and grammar . Th e Arabic text can have obscure passages. Some can be resolved by rhetorical analysis. But this analysis cannot give itself the luxury of bypassing a consultation of the classical commentators of old (T.abarī, Zamakhsharī, Rāzī etc.), of Arabic dictionaries (such as the indispensable Lisān- al-‘Arab – Th e Language of the Arabs by Ibn Manz.ūr, d. 711/1311) or even some more modern study in order to resolve philological or grammatical problems. Th ese points will be taken up in a rubric preliminary

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to the analysis, ‘Questions of Lexicography and of Grammar’ or ‘Textual Problems’.

– As a fi rst step in rhetorical analysis as such the work must be studied in the original language. In the case of the Qur’an, this would be Arabic. Too many elements of the text are erased or modifi ed in translation. Th e rhymes, the phonetic interplay of assonances and paronymies (or quasi- homonymies) so frequent and important in the Qur’an, disappear in translation when in fact they can be indicators of composition. Th e original order of the words cannot always be respected in a translation. Synonymies do not function in the same way in Arabic and in a translation. A translation may need several words while the Arabic of the Qur’an, which is very concise, expresses the same concept with a single word. Even a very literal translation will not render all the nuances of the original. ¹ Aft er the initial groundwork, a translation can be used concomitantly. A back and forth comparison between the work in Arabic and a translation can be helpful to the progress of analysis. In fact, certain elements of the text could eventually appear better in one language than in the other.

– In a fi rst draft , the text will be re- written (hence in Arabic) by aligning the syntagmas that seem to be able to constitute members like poetic verses.

Th is can be done directly on a computer, although writing the text by hand will help to interiorize it quasi- physically.

– Write the whole text and nothing but the text. Nothing should be omitted from the text for everything can be important in the composition, even the particles. Suspension points should be absolutely avoided. And, of course, nothing should be added to the text; explanations should be given elsewhere.

– Respect the order of the text such as its fi gures in the canonical Arabic version. ² Do not displace a verse or a member to give the text a presumably more satisfying logic, as do certain proponents of historical criticism in their translations of the Qur’an (Richard Bell, Régis Blachère). Th e lack of logic in a text is only apparent. It is precisely the task of rhetorical analysis to understand this unfamiliar logic.

– Once the text has been re- written, underline, using the same colour, the corresponding terms or syntagmas : repetitions, synonymies, antithesis, paronomases. It is not a question of fi nding, all at once, the exact symmetries

that compose the text but to locate all the terms and syntagmas which seem to be in correspondence and could guide towards the composition.

– Go back and forth from one level to another. To divide the text according to its diff erent levels, we have seen (in Chapter 3 dealing with this problem) that each level should be defi ned both by its internal and external coherence, by confrontation with textual elements, which can be adjacent or more remote. Concretely, this means that it is not enough to align the members, then the segments etc. only taking into account the characteristics of the member (most oft en equivalent to a syntagma) or the segment (parallelism between two or three members). Th e analysis should never cease to go back and forth between the level being analysed and the level (levels) superior. By confronting one member with another in order to verify its external coherence, one is already at the level of the segment. By comparing one segment with another in order to defi ne its limits more exactly, one is already at the level of the piece etc. Th e analysis thus proceeds by successive approximations until it arrives at the most satisfying coherence on all the textual levels that infl uence one another.

– All levels are not equally signifi cant. It is not unusual that at an inferior level (segments, pieces) the symmetrical correspondences appear quite weak and of limited interest. Th at does not mean to say that the correspondences do not exist, but that they are only confi rmed by the analysis of the superior levels in which the symmetries are more pronounced and meaningful.

– Th e division of the diff erent levels cannot be considered defi nitive until the entire text has been analysed. Th is is a consequence of the preceding remarks.

As long as the superior level of a text has not been established, the inferior levels are subject to revision.

– Th e best division will be that which reunites the greatest number of compositional indicators. We have studied this aspect of analysis in Chapter 4 on fi gures of composition in the paragraph concerning the ‘convergence of indicators’ (pp. 104–107).

– If something is being published in a language other than Arabic, it is necessary to translate the text of the Qur’an. Th e goal should be a translation that is exact but very literal , word for word, giving maximum respect to Arabic syntax, even if that involves roughing up somewhat the language into which the text is being translated! Th is holds true at least on the inferior

textual levels (segments, pieces, parts). On the superior levels (passage, sequence, section) there is the possibility of using a translation more in keeping with the syntax of the target language.

– Finally, it is necessary to present the tables in such a way that the reader can fi nd, on a common double page , the table and its explanation. Sometimes this will involve reproducing the same table more than once, on a right- hand page, then on a left - hand page so that the explications might be read on the right- hand page of the double spread. ³ In principle, if the diagrams are well done, they should speak for themselves. Th ese descriptions are necessary, however, if only to justify the compositions proposed in the tables.