Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World
Anglo-Saxon Perceptions of the Islamic World

Author: Katharine Scarfe Beckett

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2003-10-16

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 113944090X

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In this book, Scarfe Beckett is concerned with representations of the Islamic world prevalent in Anglo-Saxon England. Using a wide variety of literary, historical and archaeological evidence, she argues that the first perceptions of Arabs, Ismaelites and Saracens which derived from Christian exegesis preconditioned wester expressions of hostility and superiority towards peoples of the Islamic world, and that these received ideas prevailed even as material contacts increased between England and Muslim territory. Medieval texts invariably represented Muslim Arabs as Saracens and Ismaelites (or Hagarenes), described by Jerome as biblical enemies of the Christian world three centuries before Muhammad's lifetime. Two early ideas in particular - that Saracens worshipped Venus and dissembled their own identity - continued into the early modern period. This finding has interesting implications for earlier theses by Edward Said and Norman Daniel concerning the history of English perceptions of Islam.

Historical Evolution of Perceptions of Muslims
Historical Evolution of Perceptions of Muslims

Author: Mohd Anas

Publisher: BENEST BOOKS

Published:

Total Pages: 133

ISBN-13:

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"Historical Evolution of Perceptions of Muslims" offers a comprehensive exploration of how societal perceptions of Muslims have evolved over centuries. Through a meticulous examination of historical events, cultural interactions, and socio-political shifts, this book uncovers the complexities and transformations in the portrayal of Muslims across different eras. From the early formation of perceptions during the rise of Islam to contemporary global challenges, the book provides insights into how these perceptions have influenced and been influenced by the broader historical and cultural contexts. By delving into the impact of major historical events, including the Crusades, the Ottoman Empire's role, colonialism, and modern geopolitical developments, this work aims to shed light on the nuanced realities behind the often-misunderstood image of Muslims, offering readers a deeper understanding of their place in global history and contemporary society.

Britain and the Islamic World, 1558-1713
Britain and the Islamic World, 1558-1713

Author: Gerald MacLean

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-05-26

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 0199203180

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Explores the interactions between Britain and the Islamic world from 1558 to 1713, showing how much scholars, diplomats, traders, captives, travellers, clerics, and chroniclers were involved in developing and describing those interactions.

Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages
Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages

Author: Michael Frassetto

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-11-12

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1498577571

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The conflict and contact between Muslims and Christians in the Middle Ages is among the most important but least appreciated developments of the period from the seventh to the fourteenth century. Michael Frassetto argues that the relationship between these two faiths during the Middle Ages was essential to the cultural and religious developments of Christianity and Islam—even as Christians and Muslims often found themselves engaged in violent conflict. Frassetto traces the history of those conflicts and argues that these holy wars helped create the identity that defined the essential characteristics of Christians and Muslims. The polemic works that often accompanied these holy wars was important, Frassetto contends, because by defining the essential evil of the enemy, Christian authors were also defining their own beliefs and practices. Holy war was not the only defining element of the relationship between Christians and Muslims during the Middle Ages, and Frassetto explains that everyday contacts between Christian and Muslim leaders and scholars generated more peaceful relations and shaped the literary, intellectual, and religious culture that defined medieval and even modern Christianity and Islam.

Inhabited Spaces
Inhabited Spaces

Author: Nicole Guenther Discenza

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2017-01-18

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 148751154X

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We tend to think of early medieval people as unsophisticated about geography because their understandings of space and place often differed from ours, yet theirs were no less complex. Anglo-Saxons conceived of themselves as living at the centre of a cosmos that combined order and plenitude, two principles in a constant state of tension. In Inhabited Spaces, Nicole Guenther Discenza examines a variety of Anglo-Latin and Old English texts to shed light on Anglo-Saxon understandings of space. Anglo-Saxon models of the universe featured a spherical earth at the centre of a spherical universe ordered by God. They sought to shape the universe into knowable places, from where the earth stood in the cosmos, to the kingdoms of different peoples, and to the intimacy of the hall. Discenza argues that Anglo-Saxon works both construct orderly place and illuminate the limits of human spatial control.

Muslims in the Western Imagination
Muslims in the Western Imagination

Author: Sophia Rose Arjana

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2015-01-02

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 019932493X

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A Choice 2015 Outstanding Academic Title Throughout history, Muslim men have been depicted as monsters. The portrayal of humans as monsters helps a society delineate who belongs and who, or what, is excluded. Even when symbolic, as in post-9/11 zombie films, Muslim monsters still function to define Muslims as non-human entities. These are not depictions of Muslim men as malevolent human characters, but rather as creatures that occupy the imagination -- non-humans that exhibit their wickedness outwardly on the skin. They populate medieval tales, Renaissance paintings, Shakespearean dramas, Gothic horror novels, and Hollywood films. Through an exhaustive survey of medieval, early modern, and contemporary literature, art, and cinema, Muslims in the Western Imagination examines the dehumanizing ways in which Muslim men have been constructed and represented as monsters, and the impact such representations have on perceptions of Muslims today. The study is the first to present a genealogy of these creatures, from the demons and giants of the Middle Ages to the hunchbacks with filed teeth that are featured in the 2007 film 300, arguing that constructions of Muslim monsters constitute a recurring theme, first formulated in medieval Christian thought. Sophia Rose Arjana shows how Muslim monsters are often related to Jewish monsters, and more broadly to Christian anti-Semitism and anxieties surrounding African and other foreign bodies, which involves both religious bigotry and fears surrounding bodily difference. Arjana argues persuasively that these dehumanizing constructions are deeply embedded in Western consciousness, existing today as internalized beliefs and practices that contribute to the culture of violence--both rhetorical and physical--against Muslims.

Medieval Marvels and Fictions in the Latin West and Islamic World
Medieval Marvels and Fictions in the Latin West and Islamic World

Author: Michelle Karnes

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2022-07-12

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 0226819760

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A cross-cultural study of magical phenomena in the Middle Ages. Marvels like enchanted rings and sorcerers’ stones were topics of fascination in the Middle Ages, not only in romance and travel literature but also in the period’s philosophical writing. Rather than constructions of belief accepted only by simple-minded people, Michelle Karnes shows that these spectacular wonders were near impossibilities that demanded scrutiny and investigation. This is the first book to analyze a diverse set of writings on such wonders, comparing texts from the Latin West—including those written in English, French, Italian, and Castilian Spanish —with those written in Arabic as it works toward a unifying theory of marvels across different disciplines and cultures. Karnes tells a story about the parallels between Arabic and Latin thought, reminding us that experiences of the strange and the unfamiliar travel across a range of genres, spanning geographical and conceptual space and offering an ideal vantage point from which to understand intercultural exchange. Karnes traverses this diverse archive, showing how imagination imbues marvels with their character and power, making them at once enigmatic, creative, and resonant. Skirting the distinction between the real and unreal, these marvels challenge readers to discover the highest capabilities of both nature and the human intellect. Karnes offers a rare comparative perspective and a new methodology to study a topic long recognized as central to medieval culture.