| Arab Representations of the Occident: East-West Encounters in Arabic Fiction Contributor(s): El-Enany, Rasheed (Author) |
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ISBN: 0415332176 ISBN-13: 9780415332170 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $152.00 Product Type: Hardcover Published: March 2006 Annotation: This book explores Arab responses to Western culture and values as expressed mainly through works of fiction written by Arab authors during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It provides welcome new insights into the perennial East-West debate, and is particularly relevant to the current discussion on Islam and the West. "Arab Representations of the Occident "might be seen as the reverse study of Edward Said's famous "Orientalism," If Orientalism, according to Said, provided the conceptual framework, the intellectual justification for the appropriation of the Orient through colonialism, "Occidentalism" - if one may use this label to indicate Arab conceptualizations of the West - tells a different story. It is a story, not about the appropriation of the land of the West, but its very soul. And if Orientalism was about the denigration, and the subjugation of the Oriental Other, much of Occidentalism has been about the idealization of the Western Other, the desire to become the Other, or atleast to become like the Other. Alongside raising highly topical questions about stereotypical ideas about Arabs and Muslims in general, this book - the first book on the subject in English - explores representations of the West by the foremost Arab intellectuals over a two-century period, right up to the present day. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Middle Eastern - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General - Social Science | Regional Studies |
| Dewey: 892.736 |
| Series: Culture and Civilization in the Middle East |
| Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6.2" W x 9.52" (1.20 lbs) 258 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Middle East |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This is one of the first books in English to explore Arab responses to Western culture and values in modern Arab literature. Through in-depth research El-Enany examines the attitudes as expressed mainly through works of fiction written by Arab authors during the twentieth, and, to a lesser extent, nineteenth century. It constitutes an original addition to the age-old East-West debate, and is particularly relevant to the current discussion on Islam and the West. Alongside raising highly topical questions about stereotypical ideas concerning Arabs and Muslims in general, the book explores representations of the West by the foremost Arab intellectuals over a two-century period, up to the present day, and will appeal to those with an interest in Islam, the Middle East, nationalism and the so-called 'Clash of Civilizations'. |