Muslim Heroes on Screen
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Published:17th Nov '21
Should be back in stock very soon
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£109.99(9783030741440)
If films drawing on Middle East tropes often highlight white Westerners, figures such as Sinbad and the Thief of Bagdad embody a counter-tradition of protagonists, derived from Islamic folklore and history, who are portrayed as ‘Other’ to Western audiences. In Muslim Heroes on Screen, Daniel O’Brien explores the depiction of these characters in Euro-American cinema from the silent era to the present day. Far from being mere racial masquerade, these screen portrayals are more complex and nuanced than is generally allowed, not least in terms of the shifting concepts and assumptions that inform their Muslim identity. Using films ranging from Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Bagdad, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, El Cid, Kingdom of Heaven and The Message to The Wind and the Lion, O’Brien considers how the representational strategies of Western filmmakers may transcend such Muslim stereotypes as fanatic antagonists or passive victims. These figures possess a cultural significance which cannot be fully appreciated by Euro-American audiences without reference to their distinction as Muslim heroes and the implications and resonances of an Islamicized protagonist.
“The book is a sound contribution to the literature on the study of Islam and Muslim societies in film.” (Ahmad Nuril Huda, Journal of Religion & Film, Vol. 27 (2), October, 2023)
ISBN: 9783030741419
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
251 pages
1st ed. 2021