Orientalism and Literature

Discusses how Orientalism, a key critical concept in literary studies, has evolved and assists our reading of literature.

Geoffrey P. Nash (Edited by)

9781108499002, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 November 2019

388 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.7 cm, 0.71 kg

'The organization is excellent, and the essays are brief and get right to the point. Literary scholars will find this collection an excellent complement to Said's Orientalism.' K. M. Kapanga, Choice

Orientalism and Literature discusses a key critical concept in literary studies and how it assists our reading of literature. It reviews the concept's evolution: how it has been explored, imagined and narrated in literature. Part I considers Orientalism's origins and its geographical and multidisciplinary scope, then considers the major genres and trends Orientalism inspired in the literary-critical field such as the eighteenth-century Oriental tale, reading the Bible, and Victorian Oriental fiction. Part II recaptures specific aspects of Edward Said's Orientalism: the multidisciplinary contexts and scholarly discussions it has inspired (such as colonial discourse, race, resistance, feminism and travel writing). Part III deliberates upon recent and possible future applications of Orientalism, probing its currency and effectiveness in the twenty-first century, the role it has played and continues to play in the operation of power, and how in new forms, neo-Orientalism and Islamophobia, it feeds into various genres, from migrant writing to journalism.

Introduction Geoffrey P. Nash
Part I. Origins: 1. Styles of Orientalism in the eighteenth century Suvir Kaul
2. The origin and development of the Oriental tale James Watt
3. Romantic Orientalism and Occidentalism Saree Makdisi
4. The Victorians: empire and the East Sukanya Banerjee
5. Orientalism and Victorian fiction Daniel Bivona
6. Orientalism and race: Aryans and Semites Christopher Hutton
7. Orientalism and the Bible Ivan D. Kalmar
Part II. Development: 8. Said, Bhabha and the colonized subject Eleanor Byrne
9. The Harem: gendering Orientalism Reina Lewis
10. Orientalism and Middle East travel writing Ali Behdad
11. Nineteenth and twentieth American Orientalism David Weir
12. Edward Said and resistance in colonial and postcolonial literatures Valerie Kennedy
13. Can the cosmopolitan writer be absolved of racism? Andrew C. Long
Part III. Application: 14. From Orientalism to Islamophobia Mahmut Mutman
15. Applications of neo-Orientalism and Islamophobia in recent writing Peter Morey
16. Orientalism and cultural translation: Middle-Eastern American writing Carol W. N. Fadda
17. New Orientalism and the American media: New York Cleopatra and Saudi 'giggly black ghosts' Moneera Ghadeer
18. On Orientalism's future(s) Anouar Majid
19. The engine of survival: a future for Orientalism Patrick Williams.

Subject Areas: Literary reference works [DSR], Literary theory [DSA], Literature & literary studies [D]