LEADER 04737nam 2200829Ia 450 001 9910823265203321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-8014-6497-8 010 $a0-8014-6498-6 010 $a1-322-50477-6 024 7 $a10.7591/9780801464980 035 $a(CKB)2550000001192922 035 $a(EBL)3138337 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000737819 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11407154 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000737819 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10787734 035 $a(PQKB)10332989 035 $a(OCoLC)797829091 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse51870 035 $a(DE-B1597)478321 035 $a(OCoLC)979684340 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780801464980 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3138337 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10559186 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL681759 035 $a(OCoLC)922998247 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3138337 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000001192922 100 $a20090224d2009 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aIdols in the East $eEuropean representations of Islam and the Orient, 1100-1450 /$fSuzanne Conklin Akbari 210 $aIthaca $cCornell University Press$d2009 215 $a1 online resource (336 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-8014-7781-6 311 $a0-8014-4807-7 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tContents -- $tList of Illustrations -- $tAcknowledgments -- $tIntroduction: Medieval Orientalism? -- $t1. The Shape of the World -- $t2. From Jerusalem to India -- $t3. The Place of the Jews -- $t4. The Saracen Body -- $t5. Empty Idols and a False Prophet -- $t6. The Form of Heaven -- $tConclusion: A Glance at Early Modern Orientalism -- $tWorks Cited -- $tIndex 330 $aRepresentations of Muslims have never been more common in the Western imagination than they are today. Building on Orientalist stereotypes constructed over centuries, the figure of the wily Arab has given rise, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, to the "Islamist" terrorist. In Idols in the East, Suzanne Conklin Akbari explores the premodern background of some of the Orientalist types still pervasive in present-day depictions of Muslims-the irascible and irrational Arab, the religiously deviant Islamist-and about how these stereotypes developed over time. Idols in the East contributes to the recent surge of interest in European encounters with Islam and the Orient in the premodern world. Focusing on the medieval period, Akbari examines a broad range of texts including encyclopedias, maps, medical and astronomical treatises, chansons de geste, romances, and allegories to paint an unusually diverse portrait of medieval culture. Among the texts she considers are The Book of John Mandeville, The Song of Roland, Parzival, and Dante's Divine Comedy. From them she reveals how medieval writers and readers understood and explained the differences they saw between themselves and the Muslim other.Looking forward, Akbari also comes to terms with how these medieval conceptions fit with modern discussions of Orientalism, thus providing an important theoretical link to postcolonial and postimperial scholarship on later periods. Far reaching in its implications and balanced in its judgments, Idols in the East will be of great interest to not only scholars and students of the Middle Ages but also anyone interested in the roots of Orientalism and its tangled relationship to modern racism and anti-Semitism. 606 $aChristianity and other religions$xIslam 606 $aIslam$xRelations$xChristianity 606 $aOrientalism$xHistory$yTo 1500 606 $aIslam in literature 606 $aEast and West in literature 606 $aOrientalism in literature 606 $aLiterature, Medieval$xHistory and criticism 607 $aEurope$xRelations$zIslamic Empire 607 $aIslamic Empire$xRelations$zEurope 607 $aEurope$xRelations$zLatin Orient 607 $aLatin Orient$xRelations$zEurope 607 $aLatin Orient$xIn literature 615 0$aChristianity and other religions$xIslam. 615 0$aIslam$xRelations$xChristianity. 615 0$aOrientalism$xHistory 615 0$aIslam in literature. 615 0$aEast and West in literature. 615 0$aOrientalism in literature. 615 0$aLiterature, Medieval$xHistory and criticism. 676 $a303.48/256040902 700 $aAkbari$b Suzanne Conklin$0856712 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910823265203321 996 $aIdols in the East$94061376 997 $aUNINA