 | Islam as Imagined in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century English Literature Subjects: Humanities; Language & Literature; Philosophy; Religion; Literature; Aesthetics; Islam - Religion; Post-Colonial Studies; Literature by Geographic Area; Literature by Period; Since medieval times English Literature has often demonized Muslims. The term 'Islamophobia' is recent but the phenomenon is old. This survey of literature focusing on the modern period identifies negative ideas about Islam in novels and plays. Some works are iconic some more obscure. However, the book highlights writers who challenged stereotypes and tended to see Muslims as equally capable of virtue and vice with Christians and others. The book deals with the role of the imagination in depicting others and how this serves authors' agendas. The conclusion brings the book's thesis into dialogue with debate in the USA today between supporters of multiculturalism and its critics. Anyone interested in how stereotypes are formed, perpetuated and can be challenged will profit from this book. It is aimed at a non-specialist readership. Clinton Bennett is a British American scholar of religion and ordained Baptist clergyperson who focuses on Christian-Muslim Relations. A graduate of Birmingham, Manchester and Oxford Universities his Birmingham PhD was awarded in 1990 for a thesis on Victorian images of Islam. A Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute he has lived and worked in Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, and the USA. Author of twelve books, he has participated in Interfaith relations locally, nationally, and globally through the World Council of Churches and other organizations. In the USA he represents the Alliance of Baptists on several bilateral dialogues. Currently teaching Religious Studies at the State University of New York at New Paltz his previous posts include director of Interfaith Relations for the British Council of Churches, senior lecturer at Westminster College, Oxford, and associate professor at Baylor University, TX. |
