The Volapük Qur’an: language, scripture, and nineteenth-century German universalist provincialism

TL;DR

This paper examines the 1890 translation of the Qur’an into Volapük, a constructed world language, to explore how language activism shaped its presentation.

Contribution

The paper introduces the Volapük Qur’an as a case study of language activism and European universalism in the 19th century.

Findings

The Volapük Qur’an reflects Schleyer’s Catholic background and European provincialism.

It contrasts with later Esperanto Qur’an translations in its activist and non-missionary framing.

The translation is part of a broader trend of Qur’an translations driven by language activism.

Abstract

This article focuses on the translation of selected segments from the Qur’an into the auxiliary ‘world language’ Volapük that was published by Johann Martin Schleyer, the inventor of the language, in Constance, Germany, in 1890. I investigate the place of this translation within Schleyer’s vision of creating a world language, and use it as a case study through which to explore the ways that literature was framed and recreated within the relatively short-lived endeavour to promote Volapük as the new universal language. Analysing the impact that Schleyer’s German Catholic background had on his presentation of the Qur’an, this article sheds light on the provincialism of this specific brand of nineteenth-century European universalism that sparked the construction of Volapük, especially when contrasted with a later project of translating the Qur’an into Esperanto. These findings will allow us to situate the Volapük translation of the Qur’an within the broader field of Qur’an translations that have primarily emerged from language activism, as opposed to a missionary or academic engagement with the Qur’an.