Full Description
Rana Kabbani unravels Western fantasies and myths about the East which were woven over the ages. Devised during the Crusades to combat Islam, then confirmed by centuries of Western writers and artists, these myths fostered racial and sexual stereotypes that became vital to imperial designs. In Orientalist travelogues and paintings, the British and the French conceived of an erotic and sinister East, one that they believed to be morally inferior and dangerous, and therefore ripe for colonisation. Such perceptions remain very much apparent today, fuelling the tension between East and West.Imperial Fictions, now a classic, is an erudite analysis of Europe's fabricated Orient, as expressed in its writings and illustrated in its paintings.
Contents
Introduction1 Lewd Saracens2 The Text as Pretext3 The Salon's Seraglio4 Doughty Travellers5 Among the BelieversConclusory Remarks: The Innocents Abroad?Notes and ReferencesBibliography
