A rhetorical critique and investigation of Adaptation of the holy Quran

This article analyzed Quranic quotations from the perspective of traditional rhetoric and new literary theories. These questions were raised herein: 1. What position does quotation have in traditional rhetoric? 2. How quotation has been considered plagiarism while it is a literary device and a manifestation of Quranic influence? 3. How can one put forward and update the quotation device in relation to some debates on modern literary theories? 4. How does the aesthetic role of quotation emerge in the new text's context? To answer these questions, first the semantic filed of the term quotation was demarcated, then the relationship between quotation and intertextuality and creative misreading in new literary theories was explored and finally to depict the aesthetic function of quotation, the way the adapted part has been linked to the linguistic context of the current text and the method of creative reading appropriate to the context of the new text were portrayed. The results of this research suggest that quotation, within traditional rhetoric, has sometimes been regarded as a kind of literary device and a manifestation of Quranic influence yet sometimes as plagiarism and studying it has been overlooked. However, based on the theory of intertextuality and creative misreading, quotation is a kind of artistic technique that when combined with writer's creative reading, and the well-sitting of the quoted part in the new context, is a display of the artist's ability to summon the previous text and not only is not plagiarism but also shows the artist's skill in recontextualization.