Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800
Format:Paperback
Publisher:The University of Chicago Press
Published:19th May '09
Should be back in stock very soon
Attitudes toward homosexuality in the premodern Arab-Islamic world are commonly depicted as schizophrenic - it was visible and tolerated on one hand, prohibited by Islam on the other. Khaled El-Rouayheb argues that this apparent paradox is based on the anachronistic assumption that homosexuality is a timeless, self-evident fact to which a particular culture reacts with some degree of tolerance or intolerance. Drawing on poetry, biographical literature, medicine, dream interpretation, and Islamic texts, he shows that the culture of the period lacked the concept of homosexuality.
"Meticulously researched, lucidly written, nuanced, and brilliantly conceived, the book forthrightly takes on complex issues surrounding the culture of same-sex eroticism that existed in the Arabic-speaking lands of the early modern Ottoman Empire.... An important book by an excellent scholar." - Journal of Religion "Rectifies many... prejudices and misinterpretations in a masterly fashion." - Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies "A remarkably learned volume that provides an excellent introduction to a long-neglected area of study in the English-speaking world.... A trenchant, insightful, and even brilliant book." - Gay and Lesbian Review"
ISBN: 9780226729893
Dimensions: 23mm x 15mm x 1mm
Weight: 312g
224 pages