Reading Arabia: British Orientalism in the Age of Mass Publication, 1880–1930

288 Pages·2014·7.3 MB·English

by  Andrew C. Long

Reading ARABIA
Contemporary Issues in the Middle East
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Reading
A R A B I A
British Orientalism in the Age of
Mass Publication, 1880–1930
Andrew C. Long
Syracuse University Press
Copyright © 2014 by Syracuse University Press
Syracuse, New York 13244-5290
All Rights Reserved
First Edition 2014
14 15 16 17 18 19 6 5 4 3 2 1

∞ Th e paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
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ISBN: 978-0-8156-3323-5 (cloth) 978-0-8156-5232-8 (e-book)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Long, Andrew C.
Reading Arabia : British Orientalism in the age of mass publication, 1880–1930 /
Andrew C. Long.
pages cm. — (Contemporary issues in the Middle East)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8156-3323-5 (cloth : alkaline paper) — ISBN 978-0-8156-5232-8
(ebook) 1. Great Britain—Relations—Arab countries. 2. Arab countries—
Relations—Great Britain. 3. Arab countries—Foreign public opinion, British.
4. Orientalism—Great Britain—History. 5. Arabs in popular culture—Great
Britain—History. 6. Arabs in mass media. 7. British literature—History and
criticism. 8. Arabs in literature. 9. Fantasy in literature. 10. Stereotypes
(Social psychology) in literature. I. Title.
DS63.2.G7L66 2014
303.48'24105309041—dc23 2013049871
Manufactured in the United States of America
For Lounes and Tassadit
Andrew C. Long currently teaches in the Department of Cultural
Studies at the Claremont Graduate University. He taught at the City
University of New York and the American University of Beirut before
moving to southern California. He has published essays on topics
including modern writers and texts, conspiracy and informing, the
pamphleteer, and politics and culture in the modern Middle East.
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi

Introduction

Britain at the Fin de Siècle and the Orientalist Unconscious 1
1.
Th e Two Tangents of British Orientalism

Burton and Doughty, Dandy and Prophet in the 1880s 31
2.
Khartoum Nightmare

Popular Literature of the British Campaign in the Sudan 75
3.
A Refusal and a Traversal
Robert Cunninghame Graham’s Engagement with Orientalism

in Mogreb-el-Acksa 99
4.
Orientalism from Within and Without

Marmaduke Pickthall 130
5.
Th e Arabist as Abject Modern

T. E. Lawrence 166

Conclusion

How to Read the Orientalist Archive 195
Notes 219
Bibliography 239
Index 253