Literary Orientalism: A Companion

Description: 

The origin of Literary Orientalism is in the various military, religious, diplomatic, political and socio-cultural encounters between and Christian West and the Islamic East. Major works of Western literature and art contain references to Oriental cultures often emphasizing cultural differences in a hostile manner. Literary Orientalism: A Companion is a systematic compilation of the instances of Literary Orientalism in English literary and critical texts, organized in six categories:

 • Writers, works and critical studies  • Critical books  • Articles and conference presentations  • Doctoral dissertations  • Literary Orientalism and the Arabian Nights  • The Oriental Tales and Literary Orientalism

The first of its kind, this companion charts out the genesis, evaluation and the present scenario of a fascinating aspect of English literary studies ? Literary Orientalism, a largely unacknowledged and little-known subfield of English literature. It seeks to answer questions such as: What is Literary Orientalism? What does it signify? What are its constituents? Who are its practitioners? What is its scope and relevance?

It lists bibliographical details of around 300 critical studies, 900 articles and conference presentations and 400 Ph. D dissertations on the broad contours of Literary Orientalism. Also, it brings into sharper focus the contributions of 45 select British men of letters like Chaucer, Shakespeare, Byron, Shelley, Yeats and Doris Lessing to this strand of English studies.

While the bibliographic survey in the book helps researchers and scholars, the lucid and detailed introduction at the beginning makes the subject accessible to students in general.

 Target audience:

Students & academics of English Literature.