Desiring Arabs
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Desiring Arabs
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Sexual desire has long played a key role in Western judgments about the value of Arab civilization. This title reveals the history of how Arabs represented their own sexual desires. It assembles a compendium of Arabic writing to chart the changes in Arab sexual attitudes and their links to Arab notions of cultural heritage and civilization.
Sexual desire has long played a key role in Western judgments about the value of Arab civilization. In the past, Westerners viewed the Arab world as licentious, and Western intolerance of sex led them to brand Arabs as decadent; but as Western society became more sexually open, the supposedly prudish Arabs soon became viewed as backward. Rather than focusing exclusively on how these views developed in the West, in Desiring Arabs, Joseph A. Massad reveals the history of how Arabs represented their own sexual desires. To this aim, he assembles a massive and diverse compendium of Arabic writing from the nineteenth century to the present in order to chart the changes in Arab sexual attitudes and their links to Arab notions of cultural heritage and civilization.
A work of impressive scope and erudition, Massadβs chronicle of both the history and modern permutations of the debate over representations of sexual desires and practices in the Arab world is a crucial addition to our understanding of a frequently oversimplified and vilified culture.
βA pioneering work on a very timely yet frustratingly neglected topic... I know of no other study that can even begin to compare with the detail and scope of [this] work.ββKhaled El-Rouayheb, Middle East Report
βIn Desiring Arabs, [Edward] Saidβs disciple Joseph A. Massad corroborates his mentorβs thesis that orientalist writing was racist and dehumanizing... [Massad] brilliantly goes on to trace the legacy of this racist, internalized, orientalist discourse up to the present.ββFinancial Times
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Praised as "a pioneering work on a very timely yet frustratingly neglected topic," Desiring Arabs stands out for its unparalleled detail and breadth, according to Khaled El-Rouayheb of Middle East Report. The Financial Times commends Massad for corroborating Edward Said's critique of orientalist discourse as racist and dehumanising, and for tracing its impact into contemporary times. The book is recognised for its deep scholarship and important insights.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780226509594
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 01 August 2008
Country: United States
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 3.0mm
Width: 15.0mm
Height: 23.0mm
Weight: 680g
Pages: 472
About the Author
Joseph A. Massad is associate professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history at Columbia University. He is the author of Colonial Effects: The Making of National Identity in Jordan and The Persistence of the Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism and the Palestinians.
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