Bayān, Exegesis and Ethnicity: the Case of al-Zamaḫšarī

This paper intends to offer a close reading and a few remarks on selected texts useful to give an insight into al-Zamaḫšarī’s view of Arabic and Arabic grammar in terms of identitarian and ideological construct. Considering the amount of scholarly literature available on al-Kaššāf, the paper focuses on the introduction to al-Mufaṣṣal fī ṣanʿat al-iʿrāb (The Detailed [Presentation] of the Art of Clear Speech, putting it in conversation with the introductions of Muqaddimat al-Adab (Introduction to Belles-Lettres), and Asrār al-balāġa (The secrets of eloquence, a dictionary of tropes) to show how al-Zamaḫšarī’s approach to Arabic exemplifies the deep interconnection between language, religion, and (ethnic) identity in the Arabic intellectual tradition