Mark Twain: En amerikansk orientalist
(2012) RHIK20 20112Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
- Abstract
- A study of Orientalist and Imperialist discourses in nineteenth century America. Mark Twain's famous and best-selling travel book, The Innocents Abroad (1869), seen as a cultural product of popular Orientalism, is analyzed with respect to some key categories: the Oriental city and its inhabitants, the religious life of the Orient and finally, women and sexuality. Chosen theory and methods can be seen as belonging to the field of Discourse analysis. Some of the illustrations in the book are also analyzed. Theories proposed by Edward Said in Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism are applied and critically discussed with regards to Twain's travel book. This methodological approach is particularly relevant as Said himself devoted very little... (More)
- A study of Orientalist and Imperialist discourses in nineteenth century America. Mark Twain's famous and best-selling travel book, The Innocents Abroad (1869), seen as a cultural product of popular Orientalism, is analyzed with respect to some key categories: the Oriental city and its inhabitants, the religious life of the Orient and finally, women and sexuality. Chosen theory and methods can be seen as belonging to the field of Discourse analysis. Some of the illustrations in the book are also analyzed. Theories proposed by Edward Said in Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism are applied and critically discussed with regards to Twain's travel book. This methodological approach is particularly relevant as Said himself devoted very little effort towards the study of American Orientalism. While analyzing the text, inter-texts and anti-texts are presented and considered. The study concludes that Twain in some respects can be seen as a contributor to the conventional, centripetal direction of the aforementioned discourses. In other respects, Twain's depictions of the Orient can be seen as being in clear opposition to conventional Orientalist and Imperialist viewpoints. Twain's text is often ambiguous: an example of this is the author's harsh condemnation of religiously motivated irrationality and superstition and his simultaneous emphasis on the importance of tolerance and moderation when encountering foreign cultures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/2300085
- author
- Norberg, Kalle LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- RHIK20 20112
- year
- 2012
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, Orientalism, Popular Orientalism, Culture, Imperialism, USA, America, Literature, Edward W. Said, Palestine, Discourse, Innocents Abroad, Travel literature, Religion, Sexuality
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 2300085
- date added to LUP
- 2012-03-19 09:34:50
- date last changed
- 2015-12-14 13:35:39
@misc{2300085, abstract = {{A study of Orientalist and Imperialist discourses in nineteenth century America. Mark Twain's famous and best-selling travel book, The Innocents Abroad (1869), seen as a cultural product of popular Orientalism, is analyzed with respect to some key categories: the Oriental city and its inhabitants, the religious life of the Orient and finally, women and sexuality. Chosen theory and methods can be seen as belonging to the field of Discourse analysis. Some of the illustrations in the book are also analyzed. Theories proposed by Edward Said in Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism are applied and critically discussed with regards to Twain's travel book. This methodological approach is particularly relevant as Said himself devoted very little effort towards the study of American Orientalism. While analyzing the text, inter-texts and anti-texts are presented and considered. The study concludes that Twain in some respects can be seen as a contributor to the conventional, centripetal direction of the aforementioned discourses. In other respects, Twain's depictions of the Orient can be seen as being in clear opposition to conventional Orientalist and Imperialist viewpoints. Twain's text is often ambiguous: an example of this is the author's harsh condemnation of religiously motivated irrationality and superstition and his simultaneous emphasis on the importance of tolerance and moderation when encountering foreign cultures.}}, author = {{Norberg, Kalle}}, language = {{swe}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Mark Twain: En amerikansk orientalist}}, year = {{2012}}, }