Writing Muslim Identity

Description

The relationship between Islam and the West is one of the most urgent and hotly debated issues of our time. This book is the first to offer a comprehensive overview of the way in which Muslims are represented within modern English writing, ranging from the novel, through memoir and travel writing to journalism. Covering a wide range of texts and authors, it scrutinises the identity 'Muslim' by looking at its inscription in recent and contemporary literary writing within the context of significant events like the Rushdie Affair and 9/11. Examining the wide range of writing internationally that takes Islam or Islamic cultures as its focus, the author discusses the representation of Muslim identity in writing by non-Muslim writers, former Muslim 'native informants', and practising Muslims.

Geoffrey Nash is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Sunderland, UK. His books include The Anglo-Arab Encounter (Peter Lang, 2007) and From Empire to Orient (I.B. Tauris, 2005)

"There are currently few more controversial topics than Muslim identity, and the ways in which it is formed, lived, and understood. In his wide-ranging study, Geoff Nash bravely tackles a variety of contemporary representations and interventions - fictional and non-fictional, Muslim and non-Muslim - of this thorny subject." -- Patrick Williams, Professor of Literary & Cultural Studies, Nottingham Trent University, UK "Nash's discourse is layered and nuanced, at times forcefully polemical, but always lucid and intellectually stimulating. In this book he raises some sharp and astute points that would enrich current, complex debates concerning literature, religion, and identity." -- Dr. Amin Malak, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Grant MacEwan University, Canada