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Babylon Under Western Eyes
A Study of Allusion and Myth
Andrew Scheil (Author)
9781442637337
Hardback, published 1 April 2016
360 pages, 16 b&w illustrations
23.6 x 16.2 x 2.8 cm, 0.68 kg
‘A superb work of multidisciplinary scholarship, Scheil’s study will be of interest in a variety of academic disciplines, as it masterfully weaves together textual and historical analysis… Highly recommended.’ ‘Scheil has done a tremendous job of winnowing a near-endless supply of material down to essential cultural grains… An ambitious, often challenging, and almost always entertaining and engaging monograph.’ ‘Babylon under Western Eyes is a fascinating study of an important word that has shaped western culture in powerful ways.’ "This book is a major achievement and will contribute a great deal to critical conversations in the areas of medievalism and race studies as well as to growing scholarship on genre fiction." "In Babylon under Western Eyes, Andrew Scheil has created a remarkable piece of literary criticism: by following his subject across a range of languages, eras, disciplines, and genres, he traces the history of a metaphor that is simultaneously grounded in historical thinking and that exceeds the sum of its historical parts."
Babylon under Western Eyes examines the mythic legacy of ancient Babylon, the Near Eastern city which has served western culture as a metaphor for power, luxury, and exotic magnificence for more than two thousand years. Sifting through the many references to Babylon in biblical, classical, medieval, and modern texts, Andrew Scheil uses Babylon’s remarkable literary ubiquity as the foundation for a thorough analysis of the dynamics of adaptation and allusion in western literature. Touching on everything from Old English poetry to the contemporary apocalyptic fiction of the “Left Behind” series, Scheil outlines how medieval Christian society and its cultural successors have adopted Babylon as a political metaphor, a degenerate archetype, and a place associated with the sublime. Combining remarkable erudition with a clear and accessible style, Babylon under Western Eyes is the first comprehensive examination of Babylon’s significance within the pantheon of western literature and a testimonial to the continuing influence of biblical, classical, and medieval paradigms in modern culture.
Introduction Part I: Babylon as Political Metaphor Chapter One: The Political Image of Babylon in Antiquity Chapter Two: Political Babylon in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Chapter Three: Political Babylon from the Great Schism to the Present Part II: Babylon as Degenerate Archetype Chapter Four: The Medieval Genealogy of Babylonian Degeneracy: The Cursed Race Chapter Five: The Post-Medieval Genealogy of Babylonian Degeneracy and the Cursed Race Archetype Part III: Babylon as Sublime Topos Chapter Six: City of Ruins Chapter Seven: Babylon and the Coordinates of Romance Conclusion