Description
Book SynopsisFor centuries the Islamic world has, by turns, been both reviled and admired in the West. Since the time of the Crusades, Europeans have viewed Muslim culture and religion through the unique distorting lens of Orientalism, colouring all aspects of their perception and generating a curious blend of fascination and distrust. Historian, sociologist and Middle East specialist Maxime Rodinson presents an account of this relationship, in a history that is balanced and concise yet insightful.
Trade Review'sure to become a favourite of American scholars of the Middle East. It is short, succinct, erudite, and greatly reassuring' -Richard W. Bulliet 'Is the history of Islam and the West... merely a record of battles and bigotry? This book makes clear that the relationship has been much subtler. By chronicling, succinctly and elegantly, the West's changing images of Islam, Rodinson - one of the leading French scholars of Islam and the Middle East - demolishes the notion of two monolithic blocs frozen in eternal hostility' -London Review of Books 'Rodinson's serious work is an analytical history of Europe's varying attitudes, positive and negative, towards Islam and the Middle East... Deserves reading.' -The Economist
Table of ContentsPart 1 Western views of the Muslim world: the Middle Ages; toward a less polemical image; coexistence and reconciliation; from coexistence to objectivity; the birth of Orientalism; the enlightenment; the 19th century; challenges to Eurocentrism. Part 2 Toward a new approach to Arab and Islamic studies: traditional Orientalism in the past; the present crisis and current problems; the present state of the craft - the continuance of the past impetus; theologocentrism in scholarship; new fields and disciplines; regional influences in Islamic studies; the modalities of future progress; proposals for future study.
