Description
Book SynopsisWashington Irving and Islam contributes to understanding the relationship between the United States and the Islamic world, valuable not only for studies of Washington Irving, American Literature, or Islam, but also for thinking through the role Islam and the Orient have played in American literature and history, a critical field receiving ever-increasing attention. The global context of Irving's work ties these essays together as does an understanding that his writings challenge easy classification of the Muslim other, and, indeed, challenge easy classification of Irving's own responses to that other. Washington Irving bestrides opposing positions as well as distant worlds.
Trade ReviewThis timely collection reclaims Washington Irving as a pivotal figure in American literature, casting light on some key works—Mahomet and his Successors, Tales of Alhambra, Conquest of Granada, Life of Mahomet—while putting Islam front and center as a formative presence. Compelling, eye-opening, and necessary. -- Wai Chee Dimock, Yale University
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Washington Irving and Islam Zubeda Jalalzai 1.Spanish Orientalism: Washington Irving and the Romance of the Moors Michael Stevens 2.What Pious Moslem Writers Tell Us: Irving’s Filtering of His Sources in Mahomet and His Successors Ray Lacina 3. A Knickerbocker Prophet: Washington Irving’s Americanization of “Mahomet” Doyle Quiggle 4.Think Local, Act Global: The Development of Islam in Washington Irving’s Mahomet and His Successors Jeffrey Scraba 5.Irving's Cadijah and Women of Power in Salmagundi and Mahomet Tracy Hoffman Afterword: The Seal and Conclusion Jeffrey Einboden
