Western Representations of the Muslim Woman : : From Termagant to Odalisque / / Mohja Kahf.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Texas Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2000
• VerfasserIn: Kahf, Mohja,
• Place / Publishing House: Austin : : University of Texas Press, , [2022]; ©1999
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Veiled, secluded, submissive, oppressed—the "odalisque" image has held sway over Western representations of Muslim women since the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. Yet during medieval and Renaissance times, European writers portrayed Muslim women in exactly the opposite way, as forceful queens of wanton and intimidating sexuality. In this illuminating study, Mohja Kahf traces the process through which the "termagant" became an "odalisque" in Western representations of Muslim women. Drawing examples from medieval chanson de geste and romance, Renaissance drama, Enlightenment prose, and Romantic poetry, she links the changing images of Muslim women to changes in European relations with the Islamic world, as well as to changing gender dynamics within Western societies.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- One INTRODUCTION -- Two THE MUSLIM WOMAN IN MEDIEVAL TEXTS -- Three THE MUSLIM WOMAN IN RENAISSANCE TEXTS -- Four THE MUSLIM WOMAN FROM ENLIGHTENMENT TO ROMANTICISM -- Five CONCLUSION -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX