Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-271) and index.
Contents:
Romance in the East: An Introduction -- 1. Saracens and Sheikhs: Romance in Context -- 2. Geographies of Fantasy: Exploring the Romance East -- 3. "For you are a man and she is a maid": Gender and the East -- 4. 'Neither Fish Nor Fowl": Representing Difference, Fabricating Sameness -- 5. Romancing the Abduction Motif -- Romance in the East: Conclusions.
Summary:
"This book, the first full-length cross-period comparison of medieval and modern literature, offers cutting edge research into the textual and cultural legacy of the Middle Ages: a significant and growing area of scholarship. At the juncture of literary, cultural and gender studies, and capitalizing on a renewed interest in popular western representations of the Islamic east, this book proffers innovative case studies on representations of cross-religious and cross-cultural romantic relationships in a selection of late medieval and twenty-first century Orientalist popular romances. Comparing the tropes, characterization and settings of these literary phenomena, and focusing on gender, religion, and ethnicity, the study exposes the historical roots of current romance representations of the east, advancing research in Orientalism, (neo)medievalism and medieval cultural studies. Fundamentally, Representing Difference invites a closer look at medieval and modern popular attitudes towards the east, as represented in romance, and the kinds of solutions proposed for its apparent problems. "-- Provided by publisher. "The Orientalist romance, in the late medieval period and in modernity, is emblematic of popular attitudes towards the east. This book, which directly compares medieval and modern romances, offers detailed case studies on how these texts represent sameness and difference in gender, ethnicity, and religion"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.