The Emergence of American Occidentalism in Literature and Culture

The Disguised Identity
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-88231-4
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 264 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 453 g

Reihe: Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture

The book presents an innovative conceptualization of Western thought, casting the discourse of black and white intellectuals and politicians as a treatise on Occidentalism. It envisions American Occidentalism as an inner discourse where Critical Occidentalists interact textually and historically in response to the prevailing crosscurrents. To capture this narrativity, the first chapter establishes the book’s new terminology, rereads ancient Greek texts, and critiques the works of key anthropologists like James G. Carrier and Fernando Coronil, as well as cultural theorists such as Hassan Hanafi, Xiaomei Chen, and Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit. The other three chapters analyze the Occidentalist tendency in the discursive, official, and intellectual practices of the Early Republic, the twentieth century, and the twenty-first century. Ideal for scholars and individuals interested in postcolonial theory, (African) American literature, and political sciences, this book challenges readers to see the Occident not as a fixed entity, but as a dynamic, self-critical tradition.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Al-Janabi, Muthanna

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Stoffe, Motive und Themen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur Amerikanische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kolonialgeschichte, Geschichte des Imperialismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Kolonialismus, Imperialismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Chapter I: The Rhetoric of Occidentalism

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Greek Seeds of Occidentalism

1.3 Anthropology and Occidentalism

1.4 Cultural Studies and Occidentalism

1.5 American Occidentalist Discourse

1.6 The Anatomy of the Study

Chapter II: The Founding Stage

2.1 Occidentalist Discursive Practices

2.2 American Occidentalism Deployed Abroad

2.3 Nationalist Awareness of Occidentalism

2.4 Black Critical Occidentalism Established

Chapter III: The Expanding Stage

3.1 Americentrism

3.2 White Critical Occidentalists Between the Two Wars

3.3 Black Critical Occidentalism Developed

Chapter IV: The Uncertain Stage

4.1 The Officials, the Elite, and the Media

4.2 Defensive Strategy and White Critical Occidentalism Continued

4.3 Black Critical Occidentalism Fully Burst

Conclusion

Reference List

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Muthanna Al-Janabi is an Iraqi scholar and a visiting assistant professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, specializing in Occidentalism, (post)colonialism, neo-Orientalism, cultural dialogues, (African) American literature, and representations of violence. He earned his BA and MA from the University of Baghdad before completing his PhD at Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany. Through his published articles, Al-Janabi examines shifting global narrativity and its impact on contemporary thought.