Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Qurʼan and narrative biblicist traditions -- The narratival roots of the Islamic tradition -- The development of oral literary theory -- The application of oral-formulaic theory to pre-Islamic arabic poetry -- Mapping the landscape: a computerised formulaic analysis of the Qurʼanic text -- Digging deeper: verse-level formulaic analysis -- Searching for formulaic systems -- Iblis and Adam: a comparative application of computerised and "manual" methods of formulaic analysis to the seven retellings -- Conclusion: The Qurʼan and orality -- Appendix: The Seven Iblis and Adam stories and an English translation.

Description based on print version record.