Representations of Islam in the West from the earliest times until the present with emphasis on enduring themes in the Western perception of Islam.
What comes to mind when you hear the word "Islam", or the word "Muslim"?
Why? What do you know about how you came to associate some ideas (and not others)
with those words? Many of the most prominent contemporary stereotypes about Islam
and Muslims have long histories in the way Europeans and Christians have responded
to what they knew of Islamic religion and Muslim peoples. This paper focuses on the
ways in which Islam has been represented in the West, locating them within this longer
historical tradition with the goal of understanding the implications of these discourses
for contemporary relationships between Muslims and others.
We begin with
an examination of the earliest encounters between Islam and the West, followed by
a consideration of enduring themes that have been carried through to the contemporary
period. Drawing on influential scholars such as Edward Said, Michel Foucault and Stuart
Hall, we examine how Islam has been constructed as the West's "Other",
whether as a site of sexual decadence to be civilised or as a military threat to be
overcome. We will also contextualise contemporary representations of Islam - from
newspaper reports to science fiction - within the legacies of colonialism, which helped
produce these discourses.
Paper title | Representing Islam |
---|---|
Paper code | RELS320 |
Subject | Religious Studies |
EFTS | 0.15 |
Points | 18 points |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 1
(Distance learning)
Semester 1 (On campus) |
Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $955.05 |
International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- One 200-level RELS paper
- Restriction
- RELS 220
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Theology
- Notes
- Students who have not passed the normal prerequisite may be admitted with approval from the Head of Department.
- Contact
Professor Will Sweetman: will.sweetman@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
View more information on the Religion website: www.otago.ac.nz/religion
- Teaching staff
Lecturer: Professor Will Sweetman
- Paper Structure
- The paper is divided into five main modules to reflect the five teaching weeks. The
modules weave together the historical overview of the major themes of representations
of Islam in the West with some of the important theoretical issues arising from these
representations, including the works of Michel Foucault, Edward Said and Stuart Hall.
Throughout we will focus on enduring themes carried through from these early images
into contemporary depictions in film and novels and their influence on - and reflection
of - global politics.
Assessment:- Take-home tests (2) 5% each
- Critical commentary essay 10%
- Critical response to news article 10%
- Essay 20%
- Final exam (two hours) 50%
- Teaching Arrangements
- Five 1-hour lectures per week (for distance students, lectures will be recorded using Otago Capture).
- Textbooks
- There is no textbook. A course outline will be available in print and PDF form. All readings for the paper will be made available on eReserve, which may be accessed via Blackboard.
- Course outline
- View the course outline for RELS 320
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship,
Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Information literacy,
Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
- Students who successfully complete the paper will be able to
- Demonstrate a sound knowledge of the historical contexts in which Islam has been represented in the West
- Identify the persistent themes in Western representations of Islam
- Discuss the recent scholarly critique of those representations
- Contextualise contemporary use of images of Islam in Europe within the longer history of Western representations of Islam
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of the implications of the representations of Islam for recent debates in Islamic Studies