{"product_id":"idols-in-the-east-european-representations-of-islam-and-the-orient-1100-1450-9780801477812","title":"Idols in the East: European Representations of Islam and the Orient, 1100-1450","description":"\u003cp\u003eRepresentations 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 \u003ci\u003eIdols in the East\u003c\/i\u003e, 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIdols in the East\u003c\/i\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eThe Book of John Mandeville\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Song of Roland\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eParzival\u003c\/i\u003e, and Dante's \u003ci\u003eDivine Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e. 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, \u003ci\u003e Idols in the East\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Suzanne Conklin Akbari\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cornell University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/08\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780801477812\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSuzanne Conklin Akbari is Professor of English and Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. She is author of \u003ci\u003eSeeing through the Veil: Optical Theory\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMedieval Allegory\u003c\/i\u003e, editor of\u003ci\u003e Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West\u003c\/i\u003e, and medieval volume editor for \u003ci\u003eThe Norton Anthology of World Literature\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Cornell University Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40682969137267,"sku":"9.78E+12","price":35.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_ebe8cda1-79a8-4cfe-bd6f-19d4d18d286c.jpg?v=1674833428","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/idols-in-the-east-european-representations-of-islam-and-the-orient-1100-1450-9780801477812","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}