Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief

This article is written in response to the favorable critical reception that V. S. Naipaul’s writings about the Muslim world have received in mainstream western culture. Since the publication of his travel narratives, Among the Believers and Beyond Belief, Naipaul has enjoyed a reputation as an aut...

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Autor principal: Wendy O’Shea-Meddour
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2004
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/910883dfa6bf41c9a43e11f34d716f34
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:910883dfa6bf41c9a43e11f34d716f342021-12-02T17:49:44ZGothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief10.35632/ajis.v21i1.4992690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/910883dfa6bf41c9a43e11f34d716f342004-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/499https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 This article is written in response to the favorable critical reception that V. S. Naipaul’s writings about the Muslim world have received in mainstream western culture. Since the publication of his travel narratives, Among the Believers and Beyond Belief, Naipaul has enjoyed a reputation as an authority on the Muslim world. The critical acclaim that he has received has been accompanied by official recognition, including a knighthood and the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, many critics beyond the periphery of mainstream western culture have voiced concerns about his hatred of Islam. In this article, I offer a revisionist reading of Naipaul’s most recent Islamic travel narrative, Beyond Belief, arguing that Islamophobia has been disturbingly misinterpreted as expertise. Focusing on three main literary themes – nineteenth-century literary conventions, the gothic genre, and neurosis – I expose this bigoted worldview and call for his status to be reconsidered. Wendy O’Shea-MeddourInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 21, Iss 1 (2004)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Wendy O’Shea-Meddour
Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief
description This article is written in response to the favorable critical reception that V. S. Naipaul’s writings about the Muslim world have received in mainstream western culture. Since the publication of his travel narratives, Among the Believers and Beyond Belief, Naipaul has enjoyed a reputation as an authority on the Muslim world. The critical acclaim that he has received has been accompanied by official recognition, including a knighthood and the Nobel Prize for Literature. However, many critics beyond the periphery of mainstream western culture have voiced concerns about his hatred of Islam. In this article, I offer a revisionist reading of Naipaul’s most recent Islamic travel narrative, Beyond Belief, arguing that Islamophobia has been disturbingly misinterpreted as expertise. Focusing on three main literary themes – nineteenth-century literary conventions, the gothic genre, and neurosis – I expose this bigoted worldview and call for his status to be reconsidered.
format article
author Wendy O’Shea-Meddour
author_facet Wendy O’Shea-Meddour
author_sort Wendy O’Shea-Meddour
title Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief
title_short Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief
title_full Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief
title_fullStr Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief
title_full_unstemmed Gothic Horror and Muslim Madness in V. S. Naipaul’s Beyond Belief
title_sort gothic horror and muslim madness in v. s. naipaul’s beyond belief
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2004
url https://doaj.org/article/910883dfa6bf41c9a43e11f34d716f34
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