Orientalism is the term applied to scholarship that reduces Islam and Muslims to stereotypes of ignorance and violence in need of foreign control. It has been used to rationalize Europe's colonial domination of most of the Muslim world and continued American-led interventions in the post-colonial period. In the past 30 years it has been represented by claims that a monolithic Islam and equally monolithic West are distinct civilizations, sharing nothing in common and, indeed, involved in an inevitable clash from which only one can emerge the winner. Most recently, it has appeared in Alt Right rhetoric. Anti-Muslim sentiment, measured in public opinion polls, hate crime statistics, and legislation, is reaching record levels. Since John Esposito published his first book nearly 40 years ago, he has been guiding readers beyond such politically charged stereotypes. The essays in this volume highlight the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines who, like -- and often inspired by -- John Esposito, recognize the misleading and politically dangerous nature of Orientalist polarizations. They present Islam as a multi-faceted and dynamic tradition embraced by communities in globally interconnected but substantially diverse contexts over the centuries. The contributors follow Esposito's lead, stressing the profound commonalities among religions and replacing Orientalist discourse with holistic analyses of the complex historical phenomena that affect developments in all societies. In addition to chapters focusing on diversity among Muslims and interfaith relations, this collection includes chapters assessing the secular bias at the root of Orientalist scholarship, and contemporary iterations of Orientalism in the form of Islamophobia.

A groundbreaking critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East that is—three decades after its first publication—one of the most important books written about our divided world. "Intellectual history on a high order ... and very exciting." —The New York Times In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined "the orient" simply as "other than" the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding.

Orientalism is the term applied to scholarship that reduces Islam and Muslims to stereotypes of ignorance and violence in need of foreign control. It has been used to rationalize Europe's colonial domination of most of the Muslim world and continued American-led interventions in the post-colonial period. In the past 30 years it has been represented by claims that a monolithic Islam and equally monolithic West are distinct civilizations, sharing nothing in common and, indeed, involved in an inevitable "clash" from which only one can emerge the winner. Most recently, it has appeared in Alt Right rhetoric. Anti-Muslim sentiment, measured in public opinion polls, hate crime statistics, and legislation, is reaching record levels. Since John Esposito published his first book nearly 40 years ago, he has been guiding readers beyond such politically charged stereotypes. The essays in this volume highlight the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines who, like -- and often inspired by -- John Esposito, recognize the misleading and politically dangerous nature of Orientalist polarizations. They present Islam as a multi-faceted and dynamic tradition embraced by communities in globally interconnected but substantially diverse contexts over the centuries. The contributors follow Esposito's lead, stressing the profound commonalities among religions and replacing Orientalist discourse with holistic analyses of the complex historical phenomena that affect developments in all societies. In addition to chapters focusing on diversity among Muslims and interfaith relations, this collection includes chapters assessing the secular bias at the root of Orientalist scholarship, and contemporary iterations of Orientalism in the form of Islamophobia.

Edward Said and the Question of Subjectivity explores the notion of subjectivity implicated in and articulated by Said in his writings. Analyzing several of his major works, Pannian argues that there is a shift in Said's intellectual trajectory that takes place after the composition of Orientalism. In so doing, Said forthrightly attempts to retrieve a theoretical and political humanism, as Pannian identifies, despite the difficult and sanguinary aspects of its past. He elaborates upon Said's understanding that only after recognising the structures of violence and coming to discern strategies of interpellation, may the individual subject effectively resist them. Pannian also explores Said's ideas on exilic subjectivity, the role of intellectuals, acts of memory, critical secularism, affiliation and solidarity before dwelling on his interface with Marxist thinkers such as Antonio Gramsci, Theodor Adorno, and Raymond Williams. This engagement marks Said's own subject formation, and shapes his self-reflexive mode of knowledge production.

This book will focus on analyzing the different aspects of Japan's representation in the novels of Haruki Murakami and David Mitchell. It is proven that Murakami creates and recreates Japan without implementing any orientalist features or exotic imagery. In the works of both authors, the intent to depict a new world of Japan stripped of traditional stereotypical traits becomes clear. The difference between Murakami and Mitchell's representation of Japan lies in the difference between Japan as seen by the Japanese and Japan as seen by modern Westerners, but both are 'correct' images of Japan. It is a recreation of the global image of Japan. In that sense, the texts of Murakami and Mitchell are complementary representations of Japan through East-West cultural dialogue. Studying the representations of Japan and Japanese national character helps to understand the role of Murakami and Mitchell in the formation of a new image of Japan, the de-stereotyping of anachronistic ideas about Japanese national exclusivity, enriching by doing so the world literature with new visions of the country and its culture. The purpose of the comparative analysis of English and Japanese literary works performed in this work is to reveal both deep analogies and differences in the representation of the image of Japan, actualizing the national specificity of the texts. This research advances the understanding of how both general and specific components of literary representations of Japan and Japaneseness are manifested in the East-West cultural dialogue.

This book examines some of the following issues: Is political theory 'Western-centric'? What can we learn from non-Western traditions of political thought? How do we compare different strands of national and regional political thought? Political thought in China, India, the Middle East and Latin America ; Islamic political thought and more. Political thought in the wake of post-colonialism. This is a much-needed overview of this key emerging area and will be of interest to all tsudents of political theory, thought and philosophy.

This is the first anthology to trace broader themes of religion and popular culture across time and theoretical methods. It provides key readings, encouraging a broader methodological and historical understanding. With a combined experience of over 30 years dedicated to teaching undergraduates, Lisle W. Dalton, Eric Michael Mazur, and Richard J. Callahan, Jr. have ensured that the pedagogical features and structure of the volume are valuable to both students and their professors. Features include: - A number of units based on common semester syllabi - A blend of materials focused on method with materials focused on subject - An introduction to the texts for each unit - Questions designed to encourage and enhance post-reading reflection and classroom discussion - A glossary of terms from the unit's readings, as well as suggestions for further reading and investigation. The Reader is suitable as the foundational textbook for any undergraduate course on religion and popular culture, as well as theory in the study of religion.

Preliminary material /Editors Thinking about Provincialism in Thinking -- INTRODUCTION /Katarzyna Paprzycka and Krzysztof Brzechczyn -- ON THE HIDDEN UNITY OF SOCIAL AND NATURAL SCIENCES (1998) /Leszek Nowak -- THE STRUCTURE OF PROVINCIAL THOUGHT. HALF ESSAY, HALF THESIS (1998) /Leszek Nowak -- MODELS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (1976) /Leszek Nowak -- NATIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES. REFLECTIONS ON TWARDOWSKI'S VIEWS /Jan Woleński -- FROM COSMOPOLITISM TO NATIONAL-POPULAR CULTURE. GRAMSCIAN ATTEMPT AT OVERCOMING PROVINCIALISM /Giacomo Borbone -- HUMAN ON THE PERIPHERY OF COMMUNITY. WITOLD GOMBROWICZ ON PROVINCIALISM /Mieszko Ciesielski -- HISPANIC-AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE FRINGES OF THE EMPIRE /Adolfo García de la Sienra and Leandro Rodríguez Medina -- DOES HISTORIOGRAPHY NEED TO BE PROVINCIAL?. INTERNATIONAL CIRCULATION OF IDEAS AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE COOPERATION OF POLISH AND FRENCH HISTORIANS IN THE PERIOD OF THE PEOPLE'S OF REPUBLIC OF POLAND /Patryk Pleskot -- METHODOLOGICAL UNIVERSALISM IN SCIENCE AND ITS LIMITS. IMPERIALISM VERSUS COMPLEXITY /Wenceslao J. Gonzalez -- ORIENTALISM AS A SIGN OF PROVINCIALISM /Eliza Karczyńska -- THE CONTEXT OF THE 'THIRD MISSION ' IN THE 'PERIPHERAL UNIVERSITIES '. A CASE STUDY OF THE 'CROSS-BORDER UNIVERSITY ' /Cezary Kościelniak -- ON COURAGE OF ACTIONS AND COWARDICE OF THINKING. LESZEK NOWAK ON THE PROVINCIALISM OF THE POLITICAL THOUGHT OF SOLIDARNOŚĆ /Krzysztof Brzechczyn -- PARADIGMS, MARKETS, AND POLITICS. FROM PROVINCE TO METROPOLIS AND RETOUR /Max Urchs and Uwe Scheffler -- SOME REMARKS ON THE SPACE-TIME OF CULTURE /Barbara Przybylska-Czajkowska and Waldemar Czajkowski -- THE INTELLECTUAL SUPERPOWER. AN ATTEMPT AT A CORRECTION OF NOWAK'S MODEL OF PROVINCIALISM /Katarzyna Paprzycka.

Revolving around the theme of “counterpoint” extensively used by Edward Said as the interplay of diverse ideas and discrepant experiences, this book aims to explore Said’s contribution to the fields of comparative literature, literary criticism, postcolonial theory, exilic and transnational studies, and socio-political thought among many others. Overshadowed by his legitimate political positions in support to the Palestinian cause and at odds with Islamophobic hostilities, Said’s intellectual achievements in the fields of humanities and philosophical thinking should equally be acknowledged and celebrated. Said articulates his notion of counterpoints through a vivid description of the composition of Western classical music. In the counterpoint of Western classical music, various themes play off one another, with only a provisional privilege being given to any particular one; yet in the resulting polyphony there is concert and order, an organized interplay that derives from the themes, not from a rigorous melodic or formal principle outside the work. This book pays tribute to Said’s contrapuntal methodology as well as to his academic and humanistic legacy.

To what extent can Islam be localized in an increasingly interconnected world? The contributions to this volume investigate different facets of Muslim lives in the context of increasingly dense transregional connections, highlighting how the circulation of ideas about ‘Muslimness’ contributed to the shaping of specific ideas about what constitutes Islam and its role in society and politics. Infrastructural changes have prompted the intensification of scholarly and trade networks, prompted the circulation of new literary genres or shaped stereotypical images of Muslims. This, in turn, had consequences in widely differing fields such as self-representation and governance of Muslims. The contributions in this volume explore this issue in geographical contexts ranging from South Asia to Europe and the US. Coming from the disciplines of history, anthropology, religious studies, literary studies and political science, the authors collectively demonstrate the need to combine a translocal perspective with very specific local and historical constellations. The book complicates conventional academic divisions and invites to think in historically specific translocal contexts.