Muslim subjectivity is created and shaped by means of certain linguistic-rhetorical traits and techniques prevalent in the Qur'an. This hypothesis implies that rhetorical choices and strategies were crucial for the emergence and gestalt of the Qur'anic discourse, it oratorical Sitz im Leben. In terms of genre and speech register, Qur'anic discourse presents itself as an extrovert soliloquy: self-sufficient and introvert on one hand and extrovert and audience-orientated on the other. The present article focuses on the latter, that is, the pragmatic and functionalistic nature of Qur'anic rhetoric. Furthermore, it argues for the analytical application of Roman Jakobson's notion of language functions, especially one particular language function. This is the so-called conative or appellative language function, which I regard as a particularly salient Qur'anic one. Central here are linguistic-rhetorical features such as direct speech, imperatives, and vocatives. Moreover, I maintain that the Qur'an's appellative language must be coupled with the critical notion of interpellation, as provided by the French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser (1918–1990). By means of regular interpallative addresses, such as the yā-ayyuhā vocatives, the Qur'an creates and shape an efficacious Muslim subjectivity: the subject, whether an individual person or a collective group, instantly and intuitively feels recognised and apprehended as a privileged addressee. As a result of this very recognition and apprehension, the subject in the same instant recognises itself as subordinate to a powerful divine voice. Seized by the Qur'anic address, a basic Muslim subjectivity—with a certain vision of the ultimate conditions of existence—is constituted. In other words, the appellative rhetoric is crucial to the appeal of the Qur'an: the appellative Qur'an is an appealing Qur'an.
Predicados de comunicação em português europeu: nominalizações e nomes autónomos
