Robert Graham Irwin
Encyclopedia
Robert Graham Irwin is a British historian, novelist, and writer on Arabic literature
.
He read modern history at the University of Oxford, and did graduate research at SOAS
. From 1972 he was a lecturer in Medieval History at the University of St. Andrews. He gave up academic life in 1977 in order to write. Irwin is currently a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies
in London, and the Middle East editor of The Times Literary Supplement
.
In addition to his historical work, Irwin has written several works of fiction, including the acclaimed dark fantasy
novel
The Arabian Nightmare, which was inspired by Jan Potocki
's The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
.
's Orientalism
, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and its Discontents (British title: For Lust of Knowing: Orientalism and its Discontents), was published. Among his various critiques, he maintains that Said focused his attention on the British and the French in his critique of Orientalism, while, in fact, it was German scholars who made the original contributions. He notes that Said linked the academic Orientalism in those countries with imperialist designs on the Middle East. Yet, by the 19th and the early 20th centuries, it was more proper to regard Russia as an empire having imperialist designs on the Caucasus
region and Central Asia. Irwin maintains that the issue of Russia's actual imperialist designs is avoided by Said. Another of Irwin's key points is that oriental scholarship or 'Orientalism' "owes more to Muslim scholarship than most Muslims realise."
Maya Jasanoff in the London Review of Books
argued: "...Irwin's factual corrections, however salutary, do not so much knock down the theoretical claims of Orientalism as chip away at single bricks. They also do nothing to discount the fertility of Orientalism for other academics. The most thought-provoking works it has inspired have not blindly accepted Said's propositions, but have expanded and modified them."
On Edward Said
's work Orientalism
:
On Edward Said:
Arabic literature
Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is adab which is derived from a meaning of etiquette, and implies politeness, culture and enrichment....
.
He read modern history at the University of Oxford, and did graduate research at SOAS
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
. From 1972 he was a lecturer in Medieval History at the University of St. Andrews. He gave up academic life in 1977 in order to write. Irwin is currently a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies
School of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
in London, and the Middle East editor of The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
.
In addition to his historical work, Irwin has written several works of fiction, including the acclaimed dark fantasy
Dark fantasy
Dark fantasy is a term used to describe a fantasy story with a pronounced horror element.-Overview:A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L...
novel
The Arabian Nightmare, which was inspired by Jan Potocki
Jan Potocki
Count Jan Nepomucen Potocki was a Polish nobleman, Polish Army Captain of Engineers, ethnologist, Egyptologist, linguist, traveler, adventurer and popular author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a legendary figure in his homeland...
's The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa , is a frame-tale novel by the Polish Enlightenment author, Count Jan Potocki...
.
Dangerous Knowledge
In 2006 his critique of Edward SaidEdward Said
Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
's Orientalism
Orientalism (book)
Orientalism is a book published in 1978 by Edward Said that has been highly influential and controversial in postcolonial studies and other fields. In the book, Said effectively redefined the term "Orientalism" to mean a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the...
, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and its Discontents (British title: For Lust of Knowing: Orientalism and its Discontents), was published. Among his various critiques, he maintains that Said focused his attention on the British and the French in his critique of Orientalism, while, in fact, it was German scholars who made the original contributions. He notes that Said linked the academic Orientalism in those countries with imperialist designs on the Middle East. Yet, by the 19th and the early 20th centuries, it was more proper to regard Russia as an empire having imperialist designs on the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
region and Central Asia. Irwin maintains that the issue of Russia's actual imperialist designs is avoided by Said. Another of Irwin's key points is that oriental scholarship or 'Orientalism' "owes more to Muslim scholarship than most Muslims realise."
Maya Jasanoff in the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
argued: "...Irwin's factual corrections, however salutary, do not so much knock down the theoretical claims of Orientalism as chip away at single bricks. They also do nothing to discount the fertility of Orientalism for other academics. The most thought-provoking works it has inspired have not blindly accepted Said's propositions, but have expanded and modified them."
Works
- The Arabian Nightmare (Dedalus BooksDedalus BooksDedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
, 1983, novel) - The Middle East in the Middle Ages: the Early Mamluk Sultanate 1250–1382. London: Croom Helm (1986) ISBN 0709913087
- The Limits of Vision (Dedalus BooksDedalus BooksDedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
, 1986, novel) - The Mysteries of Algiers (Dedalus BooksDedalus BooksDedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
, 1988, novel) - The Arabian Nights: a Companion. London : Allen Lane (1994) ISBN 0-713991054
- Exquisite Corpse (Dedalus BooksDedalus BooksDedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
, 1995, novel) - Prayer-Cushions of the Flesh (Dedalus BooksDedalus BooksDedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
, 1997, novel) ISBN 1-873982-61-1 - Islamic Art. London : Laurence King (1997) ISBN 1856690938
- Satan Wants Me (Dedalus BooksDedalus BooksDedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in "its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction...
, 1999, novel). ISBN 978-1-873982-34-1 - Night and Horses and the Desert: the Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature. London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press (1999) ISBN 0713991534
- The Alhambra (Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 2005). ISBN 978-1-861974877 - For Lust of Knowing: the Orientalists and their Enemies. London : Allen Lane (2006) ISBN 0713994150
- Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents (Overlook Press, 2006). ISBN 978-1-585678358
- Memoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the SixtiesMemoirs of a DervishMemoirs of a Dervish: Sufis, Mystics and the Sixties is an autobiography by Robert Irwin, a British historian, novelist, and writer on Arabic literature.-Synopsis:...
. Profile BooksProfile BooksProfile Books is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1996 to publish stimulating non-fiction. It publishes across a wide range of subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science. It also publishes all The Economist Books.In 2003 it...
, London 2011. ISBN 978-1-861979919
Quotes
During the Rushdie case, the leader of the largest Buddhist organisation in Britain was asked how Buddhists would react to blasphemy, and he answered: "We support it, because it makes people think." – That was well said. I don't know how to react, but it strikes me that Muhammed is increasingly given a divine status which he didn't have in original Islam. Muhammed is no god. He is a human being making mistakes which, by the way, is evident from the authorised accounts about his life.
On Edward Said
Edward Said
Edward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
's work Orientalism
Orientalism (book)
Orientalism is a book published in 1978 by Edward Said that has been highly influential and controversial in postcolonial studies and other fields. In the book, Said effectively redefined the term "Orientalism" to mean a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the...
:
I am a medievalist, but he hates the Middle Ages. Altogether he loathes the past, he does not have the ability to enter into the spirit of other ages. He lies about European novelists and twists their words; I am myself a novelist with great sympathy for some of those whom he denounces in his book. Finally, I am an orientalist, too, and his book is a long and persevering polemic against my subject, so I need to ask: is there anything at all to like in Said's book? – No. It is written far too quickly and carelessly. It abounds with misprints and mis-spelled names. It is an extremely polemic book, and throughout time many polemic books for or against Islam and the Muslim world have been written, but none have been taken seriously in the same way as Said.
On Edward Said:
The fact is that researchers cannot build anything on Said's thoughts-dead-end. ... He has made it difficult for Westerners to say anything critical about Islam and the Muslim world. You cannot do that because then you run the risk of getting denounced as an orientalist, i.e. a racist, an imperialist and other terrible things.
External links
- Before and After Said, Maya Jasanoff, London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, Vol. 28 No. 11 dated 8 June 2006 - Orientalism Revisited, Edward Said's unfinished critique Lawrence Rosen, Boston Review, Jan/Feb 2007
- Orientalism and its enemies, Dr Jack Ross, review, July 2009