Islam and the Victorians
Subtitle: Nineteenth Century Perceptions of Muslim Practices and Beliefs (Library of Middle East History)
Publisher: Tauris Academic Studies
Published: February 19, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9781845114299
Subjects: British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900; Islam; Islamic studies; c 1800 to c 1900; Religion; Religion - World Religions; British Empire; United Kingdom, Great Britain; Europe - Great Britain - General; Islam - General; Religion / Islam
Description: "How did the Victorians perceive Muslims in the British Empire and beyond? How were these perceptions propagated by historians and scholars, poets, dramatists and fiction writers of the period?" "For the first time, Shahin Kuli Khan Khattak brings to life Victorian Britain's conceptions and misconceptions of the Muslim World using a thorough investigation of varied cultural sources of the period. She discovers the prevailing representation of Muslims and Islam in the two major spheres of British influence - India and the Ottoman Empire - was reinforced by reoccurring themes: through literature and entertainment the public saw 'the Mahomedan' as the 'noble savage', a perception reinforced through travel writing and fiction of the 'exotic east' and the 'Arabian Nights'." "Khattak also provides us with an illuminating history of British attitudes towards (what they believed to be) the Muslim approach towards women, a subject of considerable concern to the nineteenth century British themselves." "Islam and the Victorians will be an important contribution to understanding the apprehensions and misapprehensions about Islam in the nineteenth century, providing a fascinating historical backdrop to many of today's concerns."--Jacket.